Apple Inc.

Michael Victor Stein

Paul Richard Wenker

Dale A Taylor

Jon D Butah

Mark Alfred Neubieser

Christopher P Thorman

A user interface presented on a local display eases user discrimination between multiple remote displays connected to a remotely controlled computer, thereby easing selection of remote display(s) for remote viewing on the local display. The user interface can incorporate information indicating physical positional orientations of remote displays relative to each other, such as whether one remote display is physically located to the left of another remote display. The icons can additionally illustrate sizes of the remote displays relative to each other. Each remote display can be represented within a particular user interface icon as a rectangle whose size and position relative to the other remote display(s) reflect that remote display's actual physical size and position relative to those other remote display(s). Different icons can show different subsets of active and inactive remote monitors, and can be selected to activate different subsets of remote monitors for presentation on the local display.

Positionally informative remote display selection interface

A method for providing security in a networked multimedia computing system is provided wherein an administrative workstation is challenged by a network workstation when the administrative workstation is attempting to manipulate or query the network workstation. The administrative workstation responds in an automatic fashion to supply a series of logically acceptable password candidates to the challenging workstation in an attempt to validate itself to the challenging network workstation without interrupting a user. If none of the series of passwords is successful, an administrator, or user, operating the administrative workstation is prompted to manually enter a password. The system allows for an administrative workstation to automatically and transparently validate itself to a challenging network workstation, in most situations, without requiring input from the administrator. Another aspect of the invention involves a system for generating reports concerning user-selected hardware and software attributes for one or more network workstations.

Security and report generation system for networked multimedia workstations

Data values are encoded for transmission to a recipient on a communication channel. Performance information associated with the encoding or the communication channel is obtained and used at least in part to determine quantization factors used in the encoding. The data values can be scaled based on the quantization factors and ordered based on a probability factor. A portion of the data values can be selected based on content. A code table can be selected based on a variation of the data values, where the code table specifies codewords including at least one of bits representative of a divisor, bits representative of a remainder, and a bit representative of a sign. Codewords can be generated for the data values using the code table. The encoded data values can be transmitted to a recipient where the data values are decoded using a decoder.

Entropy codec with variable divisor

A superset file browser permits a user to view, in a single display, the superset (i.e., the set union) of file objects from two or more designated file system locations (i.e., directories) on one or more computer systems (local or remote). The uniqueness, or overlap, of file objects between the different designated locations is indicated graphically&#x2014;typically through the use of different colors and/or icons, alphanumeric labels, popup text, ToolTip text or a combination of these techniques. A superset file browser also permits one-to-many and many-to-many distribution, collection and synchronization operations on the displayed file objects.

Superset file browser

A supervisory arrangement for a networked multimedia computing system provides features which facilitate the use and control of the networked system. One disclosed feature enables slave workstations to request attention from a master station. At the master workstation, multiple requests are prioritized in order of receipt, so that a supervisor or administrator is prompted to respond to the oldest pending request. As soon as the request is responded to, for example by audio communication with the slave station, the request is automatically cleared without the need for any input by the administrator or the person who made the request.

Displaying workstations requests in differentiating manner according to their respective priorities

A supervisory control system for a networked multimedia computing system includes an observation feature which enables a teacher, or other supervisory person, to observe a reduced view of multiple workstations at one time. The teacher is provided with a good representation of the entirety of each of the multiple screens, which enables the teacher to comprehend the type of subject matter currently being viewed by the student. If a particular student's screen is of interest, the teacher can readily select that student's screen and obtain a full-sized view thereof. In this mode, the teacher also has the option to control the student's workstation. If the number of students selected for observation is greater than the number of screens that can be presented at one time, the observation function cycles through groups of compressed screens, to permit the teacher to view all students of interest.

Supervisory control system for networked multimedia workstations that

Security and report generation system for networked multimedia

A graphical user interface for a computer includes an arrangement of icons that provides for a large number of icons to be present on screen while maintaining a large amount of useable screen space. An icon text description setting out the icon's function is provided adjacent to each icon. The icon text description is presented in truncated form when the icon is not designated by a cursor. When the icon is designated by a cursor, the icon text description is expanded to a full length thereby more fully describing the icon's function. When an icon is designated by a cursor, the text descriptions for undesignated icons are blanked, thereby focusing attention on the designated icon. This arrangement has the desirable effect of providing a user with a ready means of identifying or reaffirming icon function while avoiding the consumption of useful screen space.

Graphical user interface with icons having expandable descriptors

A supervisory control system for a networked multimedia computing system that addresses the foregoing limitations associated with currently existing systems provides a teacher or network administrator at a master workstation with the ability to open a specified document on selected remote workstations in the network. If the document is not already present on the various remote workstations, the teacher can first transmit it to each one that does not already have it. At the remote workstations, the document is stored at the same location as it is in the master workstation, to facilitate finding it on subsequent occasions. When a command is sent to open the document, it is identified by specific attributes that enable it to be distinguished from other documents that may have the same name. With this feature, a teacher can easily reset an entire computer lab so that each student will be at the same position for the beginning of a new class, for example. This same feature can also be used to launch application programs at destination workstations, as well as quit applications on selected workstations.

A supervisory control system for a networked multimedia computing system permits a teacher or network administrator to quickly and easily update system software on selected destination workstations with the system software currently residing on the master workstation. In one mode of operation, only basic system software is updated, while user-defined preferences are unchanged. In a second mode of operation, both the system software and all user-controlled settings are replaced, to permit the remote workstations to be configured in a desired manner.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Michael Victor Stein