International Business Machines Corporation

Stephen B Gest

Farrell W Wymore

Bruce A Tate

William Mitchell Edwards

Alex Chunghen Chow

A method and implementing system is provided by which software is formatted to include a selected program together with installation instructions for the installation of the selected program. In an exemplary embodiment, the software is an archive containing the selected program and an installer program. In a specific example, a manifest file, which is contained within a JAR file includes a manifest tag which specifies a class to be executed for the installation process. In another exemplary embodiment, a different tag indicates to automatically run an executable &ldquo;setup.exe&rdquo; for the installation process. Functions of the installation process may include extracting contents of multiple JAR files, executing self-extracting executables, or setting environment variables such as CLASSPATH. Uninstall instructions may also be packaged in the JAR.

Automatic program installation

A method and system for rapidly accessing viewable graphic icons displayed in a graphic interface within a computer system, wherein the viewable graphic icons are normally selected utilizing a pointing device. Initially, the graphic objects are displayed within the graphic interface, such that the viewable graphic icons may be manipulated by a user to initiate the performance of application functions. An associated accelerator object comprising one or more designated keystrokes, is then displayed proximate to each viewable graphic icon, wherein the associated accelerator objects and/or any 'flyover' help, when activated by the user, initiate the performance of application functions associated with the viewable graphic icons, such that any one of the application functions may be rapidly and efficiently selected without the use of a pointing device or searching for accelerator objects maintained in hidden regions within the graphic interface.

Method and system for rapidly accessing graphically displayed toolbar

A system and method for changing the methods of an object based on the mode of the application. Two types of dictionaries are used, a first type which defines all of the methods for an object for a particular mode and a second type which defines all of the modes supported by an application. In addition, a variable can be used to store the dictionary of methods for the current mode. This invention uses object oriented programming techniques.

Method and apparatus using dictionary of methods and states for high

A tool for a display system comprises means for superimposing a box on a portion of a buffer of data visible on a display; the box being representative of the size and location of the visible portion with respect to the whole of the buffer. For example, a box of an appropriate size can be superimposed on a portion of a buffer of data displayed in a window at an appropriate location in the window to allow the two-dimensional extent of the visible portion of the buffer with respect to the rest of the buffer of data to be represented in an easily understood manner. The invention finds particular application as part of a scroll tool. By the provision of means for interacting with the scroll box the user is provided with a user-friendly manner of scrolling around a document in a plurality of directions. This scroll tool is much more convenient to use than conventional scroll bars and does not take up unnecessary screen real estate.

Scrolling tool for text and graphics in a display system

The system and method provides a user interface tool for simultaneously selecting a menu item and a value, from a range of values, for the menu item. The user interface tool is referred to as a valuator menu, since it allows both the selection of a value from a range of values, and the selection of a menu item from a menu list. As a user moves a cursor over a menu of selectable items on a screen display, the item underneath the cursor is highlighted. In addition, as the user moves the cursor within the highlighted menu item, a value relative to the position of the cursor within that menu item is displayed. This valuator value is dynamically updated as the cursor position changes within the menu item. When the user performs an input selection, i.e. through a mouse button or a keyboard interaction, both the selected menu item and the value, relative to the cursor position, are simultaneously returned to the application program running on the data processing system.

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Stephen B Gest