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:
Feb. 01, 2005
Filed:
Apr. 06, 2000
John David Colleran, Redmond, WA (US);
Gerardo Bermudez, Redmond, WA (US);
Vadim Gorokhovky, Redmond, WA (US);
John David Colleran, Redmond, WA (US);
Gerardo Bermudez, Redmond, WA (US);
Vadim Gorokhovky, Redmond, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and system are provided for managing application programs with non-responsive user interfaces, possibly due to a bottleneck in handling events/messages. The method and system make an apparently frozen application user interface responsive so as to permit alternative tasks be executed or close the hung application. This is enabled by implementing routines to (a) detect if an application is hung, (b) replace the user interface for the hung application with a ghost interface, implemented by a separate thread, that permits system functionality such as sizing, minimization and closing of the application, and (c) destroying the ghost interface if the hung application becomes responsive again along with restoring the application's user interface along with updated event queues. Furthermore, creation of the ghost user interface is accompanied by placing a high priority special event in the hung application's queue to detect renewed responsiveness without requiring explicit monitoring.