International Business Machines Corporation

Roland Albert Merrick

David Bruce Lection

Brian John Cragun

David B Styles

Elizabeth A Schreiber

Timothy Jude O'Keefe

Brian Owen Wood

Barnaby L Court

Andrew L Hanson

Charles Edward Burkett

Martin J Gale

Andrew James Stanford-Clark

Kevin Spencer Barker

David John Clark

Alan Michael Webb

Jay H Unger

Justin J Richards

Adam Alexander Dobson

Andrew J F Bravery

An approach is provided to display a common display page on a variety of display devices using the item's tab order property to determine the display order. Controls that are displayed on a display device typically have a tab order. When a window that has controls is displayed, the cursor is typically placed at the control with the lowest (i.e., first) tab order. When the user presses the tab key, the cursor moves to the control corresponding to the next lowest tab order. This allows the designer to design a single window (or panel) that is displayed differently on constrained devices. However, even though the window is displayed differently, using tab order mapping maintains a consistent visible proximity between controls despite the type of display device being used by the user.

Tab order mapping of user interfaces

A method of assisting a user, for use in an environment comprising: a user session, an external entity session and a forms engine for generating a form. The method comprises the steps of: registering with the user session, wherein a first session is established between the user session and the forms engine; receiving a request for assistance from a user; in response to receiving the request, de-registering with the user session, wherein the first session is un-established; registering with the external entity session, wherein a second session is established between the external entity session and the forms engine; receiving input from the external entity session; and populating the form with the received input.

Method of assisting a user

A system and method is provided to display a common display page on a variety of display devices using the item's tab order property to determine the display order. Controls that are displayed on a display device typically have a tab order. When a window that has controls is displayed, the cursor is typically placed at the control with the lowest (i.e., first) tab order. When the user presses the tab key, the cursor moves to the control corresponding to the next lowest tab order. This allows the designer to design a single window (or panel) that is displayed differently on constrained devices. However, even though the window is displayed differently, using tab order mapping maintains a consistent visible proximity between controls despite the type of display device being used by the user.

System and method for tab order mapping of user interfaces

A method, system, and computer program product for flexibly including descriptive information items, and the various media resources used for those items, in a user interface (UI). One markup language document is used for the UI data content, and a separate markup language document is used for specifying the descriptive items and media resources to be used along with that content. This technique enables dynamically altering the descriptive items and media resources to be used for a UI document, without requiring change to the UI document itself This technique also enables developing the descriptive items and media resources separately from developing the UI document, without a requirement to share common files between these development efforts. The specifications of descriptive information items and media resources can be efficiently reused among multiple UI documents.

Technique for flexible inclusion of information items and various media types in a user interface

A multi-layer entry field is disclosed comprising a number of layers including a base plane, a field prompt layer, a Help Prompt layer, a layer displaying the data entered, and an error message layer. The layers are displayed superimposed on one another to reduce the screen area required to display the entry-field and its associated information, making the invention especially useful for Palmtop computers.

Multi-layer entry fields

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided for building and displaying dynamic graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that can be updated automatically without requiring code-level modification and recompiling. In response to a request to display a particular GUI on a computer display, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) data group is selected from a plurality of XML data groups and an XML display layout is selected from a plurality of XML display layouts. The selected XML data group includes one or more aggregations of data hierarchically ordered within the selected XML data group. XML data items are hierarchically ordered within each of the aggregations of data. The selected XML display layout contains one or more areas that define respective GUI display spaces within which XML data items from the respective aggregations of data can be displayed. XML markup tags associated with each aggregation of data within the selected XML data group are matched with XML markup tags associated with a respective area contained within the selected XML display layout. The XML data items contained within each aggregation of data are rendered in hierarchical order within a respective GUI display space defined by a respective area within the XML display layout.

Systems, methods and computer program products for building and displaying dynamic graphical user interfaces

A method, system, and computer-readable code for a technique with which data having dynamically variable record formats (such as that created when a dynamic schema is used with a data repository) can be easily and efficiently accommodated, without requiring modification of the code that processes the data each time the underlying data format changes. This mechanism provides a novel way to gather data that may have had changes to its format, and create a structured representation of this data that flexibly adapts to format variations. This novel technique enables all added data fields in a record to be made available for processing and removed data fields to be omitted, without requiring advance knowledge of the added and removed fields. In the preferred embodiment, a DOM tree created from an XML representation of the source data is used by the present invention as it creates an output DOM tree. Optionally, the results of an LDAP query from an LDAP directory can be used as the source data.

Method for grouping of dynamic schema data using XML

This invention relates to a method of loading Java ClassFiles on to a Java Virtual Machine. On a regular JVM the ClassFile are loaded as and when required. In this specification there is described a method of implementing an object oriented program language such as Java on a computer. The method comprises identifying a class, one of the basic building blocks of the language, which is not within the program domain, that is not loaded into the Java a Virtual Machine. Next it introduces to the program domain only the minimum components of the class which are necessary for commencing processing of the class. The class may comprise several blocks of data representing the methods of the class, since the class may only have been identified because one of the methods within the class was referenced then only the block of data representing this method is loaded into the Java Virtual Machine along with the other essential components of the class. Other blocks of data representing methods can be loaded as and when required by the programming domain. Redundant method components may be removed from the program domain to save memory.

Class loading model

A method of displaying clustered data points in detail and in context within a data set. The method includes the step of identifying one or more clustered sets of data points within a data set. The data set includes a plurality of data points. The method also includes the steps of determining a respective data range segment for each cluster of data points, where each data range segment has a boundary and a scale interval, and displaying the data points in each segment such that each segment is mutually distinguishable. Where two or more data range segments are determined, the scale interval value for one of the data range segments is modifiable to differ from one or more of the other data range segments.

Data charting

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 cryptographic system includes a conventional DES facility for encrypting data using a key of N (=56) bits. The user however need only supply a first key of n bits, which is passed to a key management system. The key management system generates a second key of length N-n bits, which is combined with the first key to produce a full-length key of N bits. This full-length key is then passed to the DES facility to allow data to be encrypted and saved in a data store in the conventional manner. The value of n can be controlled such that if the user forgets the first key, it can be located in a reasonable time on a simple trial and error basis, thereby allowing retrieval of the encrypted data.

Growing community of inventors

Nr. Evesham, United Kingdom

Roland Albert Merrick