Hewlett-packard Company

Other

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Peter Michael Williams

Brian W McBride

Peter S Showman

William M Crow

Charles H Whelan

John R Senior

John A Dysart

Brian Murdoch

Patrick Simon Arnold

Peter James Macer

Anthony Sowden

Ralph L Carpenter

Simon J Form

Jonathan A Weiner

Frederik Willerup

Edmund F Davies

Method and apparatus for device interaction by format

A method and apparatus are provided by which one device ( ) can be used to control another device ( ) without any requirement that the controlling device ( ) has any knowledge of the nature or functionality of the controlled device ( ). The controlled device ( ) transmits to the controlling device ( ) a set of possible parameter choices, together with information identifying the possible parameter choices. The controlling device ( ) then displays (or otherwise provides to the user) both the set of parameter choices and the information so that a user ( ) is able to select a set of actual parameter choices through the user interface of the controlling device ( ). The set of actual parameter choices is then transmitted back to the controlled device ( ), whose operational parameters are then modified in accordance with the set of actual parameter choices. The controlling device ( ) thus needs no knowledge of the nature of the controlled device ( ), as it only has to present the information and choices provided by the controlled device itself to the user ( ). The nature of this presentation can be determined by the display and user interface capabilities of the controlling device.

Method and apparatus for device control

There is provided a method of passing information between two or more information handling devices, such as a printer, a personal computer or a scanner. There exists a means for communication of information such as network with network connection means between the information handling devices. Each passage of information consists of one or more interactions from an interaction set, none of the interactions of the interaction set being dependent on the function to be carried out on the information by any of the information handling devices. This is particularly advantageous where each passage of information relates to sharing of a surface between a first device and one or more second devices, wherein the surface is a representation of an internal state of the first device. Preferably, each surface comprises data and a set of formats in which the data can be provided by the first device, and further comprises a property set, the property set defining to which interactions of the set of interactions the first device is adapted to respond.

Method and apparatus for device interaction by protocol

A file management system allows the linking of objects. In each link one object serves as a parent and the other as a child. When a parent object is copied the parent object is copied to produce a copy of the parent object. Additionally, the child objects of the parent object are copied s well, except in the case when the child object is designated as a special public object, each child of the parent object is copied to produce a copy of the child object. Each copy of a child object is then linked to the copy of the parent object. When a child object is designated as a special public object, the child object is linked to the copy of the parent object.

Method for copying linked data objects with selective copying of

A method in a computer system provides for the establishment of a link between two object data structures, the link specifying shared data. A first user command specifies the shared data and specifies a first object data structure as source of the shared data. A second user command specifies a second object data structure with which the data will be shared. The first user command may be accomplished by a user highlighting the shared data and selecting a share command. As a result a link is constructed which includes a reference to the shared data, a first object data structure, which is the source of the shared data and a clipboard object. The second user command may be accomplished by a user selecting on the computer display an area within a first window controlled by the second object and then selecting a paste command. The first object then may display the shared data in the area in the first window.

Method for constructing a data structure which allows data to be shared

An object based data processing system comprising a plurality of storage domains arranged so that a semantic object in a second storage domain can be accessed by the user of a first storage domain by the creation of a new presentation object in the first storage domain which is linked via a transient communication link to the semantic object in the second storage domain. Each storage domain includes a global object into which the user of the storage domain can place objects to be made accessible to other storage domains and a distributed object containing the global objects of all other storage domains. By opening a distributed object in any storage domain, the user is given access to the global objects of other storage domains, including those of other users.

Distributed object based systems for communicating object data among

A file management system removes an object from the file management system by first deleting a link to the first object. When a link to the first object is deleted the file management system determines whether there are any links to the first object remaining. If there are no links remaining, the first object is destroyed by removing data files associated with the first object.

Object database deletion method for child objects when a child may be

A file management system allows the linking of objects. In each link one object serves as a parent and the other as a child. When a parent object is copied the parent object is copied to produce a copy of the parent object. Additionally, the child objects of the parent object are copied as well, except in the case when the child object is designated as a special public object, each child of the parent object is copied to produce a copy of the child object. Each copy of a child object is then linked to the copy of the parent object. When a child object is designated as a special public object, the child object is linked to the copy of the parent object.

A computer having a file management system is presented. The file management system includes a plurality of application programs, a plurality of data files, a plurality of class data structures and a plurality of object data structures. Each class data structure includes a reference to an application program within the plurality of application programs. Each object data structure includes a reference to a class data structure from the plurality of class data structure and a reference to at least one data file from the plurality of data files. The use of object data structures adds a layer between a user of the computer and data files. This allows for the computer to refer to an object data structure and associated access files using a tag which is inaccessible to the user. The user refers to an object based on the physical location of the object on the screen. The user may also give the object data structure a name, which is wholly unconnected to the value of the tag. This allows a user to, for instance, give two objects in the same directory, the same name. Additonally, the file management system includes a plurality of link data structures, each link data structure including a reference to a first object data structure in the plurality of object data structures which serves a parent object of the link, and including a reference to a second object data structure in the plurality of object data structures which serves as a child object of the link. Child objects and parent objects are not necessarily the same for each link data structure.

Growing community of inventors

Portishead, United Kingdom

Peter Michael Williams