The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 21, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 10, 1993
Susan F Henshaw, Cary, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method and system for manipulating the display of multiple software applications within a data processing system which are displayed within multiple windows which at least partially overlap in a selected order from a bottom position to a top position. A depth control window is displayed within the data processing system in response to a user input. The depth control window includes multiple graphic elements arranged in the selected order wherein each graphic element corresponds to a software application window within the data processing system. The display of software application windows within the data processing system is then altered, in response to a user selection of a particular graphic element, to display a particular application window which corresponds to the selected graphic element and each window which is overlapped by the window displaying the particular application. In this manner, the user may efficiently 'dive' to a selected depth within an overlapping stack of windows and effectively eliminate from the display those windows which are 'above' the selected window, without rearranging the hierarchical order of the windows. The depth control window also includes graphics controls which permit a user to alter the graphic appearance of a selected window within the data processing system.