Method and system for graphically indicating the activity of a plurality

Abstract

A display window is displayed in association with at least one scroll bar at a terminal associated with a first user. Along the shaft of one ore more scroll bars, a distinctive visual location cue, such as a line in a color associated with a second user, is displayed to indicate the relative location within the shared data collection of the current and historical activity of a second user. A user may temporarily prohibit manipulation of a region within the shared data collection by other users by establishing a 'lock' on the region. A lock region may comprise several lines of text, a portion of a graphical object, or other data within the shared data collection. To indicate the location of lock regions, lock region location cues are also displayed along the scroll bar. In addition to indicating the location of lock regions, lock region location cues also indicate which user has established a lock region via a distinctive display attribute, preferably a distinctive color associated with the user who established the lock region. The location of a lock region is also indicated within the display area of a window by displaying the lock region with the same distinctive display attribute as the lock region location cue. In addition, when a cursor associated with a user prohibited from manipulating a lock region is located within the lock region, an aspect of the cursor, such as its shape, is altered. A preferred embodiment displays a representation of a key rather than a standard cursor to indicate to a user that his cursor is within a lock region.