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:
Jul. 04, 2006
Filed:
Mar. 20, 1998
Michael Anthony Faoro, Cary, NC (US);
Lynn Cleveland Percival, Iii, Raleigh, NC (US);
Michael Anthony Faoro, Cary, NC (US);
Lynn Cleveland Percival, III, Raleigh, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A technique, system, and computer program for quickly and efficiently navigating through a comparison of different versions of a file. An abstract representation of the detected differences is provided in a separate navigation window or pane. This abstract representation is shown as one or more bars, which are formatted using one color for segments that are the same and a different color for those segments that are different. This allows the user to see, at a high level, the relative size of differences, the relative position of the differences, and how the differences are distributed throughout the files. The user can navigate through the differences using navigation controls that are synchronized between the navigation window (or pane) and a file comparison window. A novel use of hover help is defined. The navigation window and controls can be used with comparisons of any type of ordered data, such as text, audio, video, etc., and with comparisons of any number of versions of a file.