International Business Machines Corporation

Justin J Richards

Kenneth Williams

Roland Albert Merrick

Patrick J Keane

The present invention provides a system and method for displaying on a display device (20) connectable to the system a visual representation of a physical environment, such as a virtual office. The system includes display controls (30) for displaying objects in the physical environment including a data management object, one or more data objects representing data sources, and one or more output objects representing paths through which data from a data source can be presented to a user. A user-operated device (50) is connectable to the system to allow a user to interact with the objects. The system includes data receiving means (70), responsive to signals from the user-operated device (50) indicating user association of one or more data objects with the data management object, to access the data represented by the one or more associated data objects. Additionally, processor (90) is provided for performing selected processing operations on the retrieved data, and an output device (100) is employed to pass the data processed by the processor to a selected output object. The use of the data management object simplifies the user's interactions with, and access to, data, and provides a common mechanism for connecting any input data to any output objects, and optionally, for processing that data on its way to the output object. It also provides a mechanism for performing relational database queries in a vastly simplified manner adhering to a concrete, accessible, real-world metaphor.

Virtual office with connections between source data machine, and a

A method and apparatus for the graphic association of a user dialog display with its primary application in a data processing system. A unique miniature graphic representation, or icon, is created for each primary application within a data processing system which has a plurality of primary applications simultaneously active therein. Thereafter, each time a user dialog for a selected primary application is displayed within a window, a copy of the unique miniature graphic representation of the selected primary application is displayed, in a normally unused portion of the user dialog window, thereby permitting a user to readily identify the association between the user dialog window and its underlying primary application. In a depicted embodiment of the present invention, the selection of a unique miniature graphic representation within a user dialog window, utilizing a graphic pointing device, will result in the creation of a textual display identifying the primary application by name.

Method and apparatus for graphic association of user dialog displays

An object-based computer system has a graphical user interface. A palette view is provided onto an object within the system that depicts all the subobjects that potentially form parts of that object. By manipulating the objects in this view, for example by dragging and dropping them onto another view of the object, the user can select them for inclusion in the object. Also provided is a parts view, which depicts the list of parts that have actually been included within the object.

Palette and parts view of a composite object in an object oriented

Help is provided to the user of a data processing system having a work station, including a display, and input means including a visible on-screen indicator and a selection means, in response to a request from the user, information on the current state of the system is used to address a store of hierarchical help text information, thereby providing contextual help text which is displayed in a separate window on the display screen alongside information related to the task in hand. A help map function is available which displays concurrently, separately from the help text, a portion of a hierarchical map of the stored help text to be replaced by new help text corresponding to the selected map entry.

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Warwick, United Kingdom

Justin J Richards