Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-01
2001-07-17
Bayerl, Raymond J. (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S440000, C709S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06262733
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and, more particularly, to user interfaces for data processing systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The WINDOWS, Version 3.1, Operating System, sold by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., provides resources to application programs for generating windows on a visual display. In particular, the operating system provides bitmaps for the window elements. As a result, every window that is generated by the application programs has a similar appearance. In order to understand what kind of bitmaps the operating system stores for window elements, it is helpful to first review what kind of elements are typically included in a window.
FIG. 1
shows an example of a typical window
10
generated by an application program. The window
10
includes a system menu box
12
, which may be opened by a user to display a list of system commands available to the user. The window
10
also includes a caption or title bar
14
that displays a title or a caption for the application program that is executing. A menu bar
16
is included in the window
10
to display application commands that the user may perform in the current application. A minimize button
18
and a maximize button
20
are also provided in the window
10
to allow a user to minimize or maximize the size of the window. When maximized, the window
10
occupies most of the video display screen. When minimized, the window
10
appears as an icon. The window
10
also includes a sizing border
22
which may be dragged using a pointing device, such as a mouse, to adjust the size of the window
10
. The window
10
additionally includes a client area
24
in which the application program may display output.
The window
10
, likewise, includes scroll bars
26
for scrolling through the contents of a document that is displayed in the client area
24
. A vertical scroll bar and a horizontal scroll bar are included in the window
10
of FIG.
1
. Each of the scroll bars
26
includes a scroll box or a thumb
29
that travels the length of the scroll bar to indicate the current position of the displayed document that is shown in the client area
24
relative to the entire contents of the document being displayed. Scroll bar arrows
28
are provided at each end of the scroll bars
26
. A user may click a mouse on the arrows at the respective ends to seroll the contents displayed on the screen in the direction of the arrow.
The operating system provides bitmaps for the system menu button
12
, the minimize button
18
, the maximize button
20
, scroll bar arrows
28
, and any check boxes, radio buttons, menu arrows or menu check marks that are included in the window. When the window
10
is resized, such as through dragging of sizing border
22
as described above, the window elements provided by the operating system do not change in size (except that in certain instances, the height of the vertical scroll bar
26
and the length of the horizontal scroll bar may change). Since these window elements provided by the operating system do not change when the window
10
is resized, the bitmaps for the window elements do not need to be updated after the window is resized.
FIG. 2
is a flowchart illustrating the steps that are performed by the operating system to allow application programs to use the bitmaps for the system-provided elements of a window. The bitmaps are initially stored in a display driver for the video display. The display driver is typically part of the operating system and must comply with standards that permit its use in the operating system. During initialization of the operating system, the display driver is loaded into memory (step
30
). The bitmaps held in the display driver are then transferred using the BitBlt( ) function into a cache (step
32
). Subsequently, when an application program wishes to draw a window on the video display, the application program retrieves the bitmaps from the cache and uses the bitmaps to draw the system-provided window elements (step
34
).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced in a data processing system that has an output device, such as a video display or printer, a memory means-holding a copy of an operating system that includes a bitmap of a window element and a processor running the operating system. In this method, the bitmap of the window element is re-drawn to have a new size in response to a request by a user. The re-drawn bitmap is stored as part of the operating system in the memory means. The re-drawn bitmap is then used to output the window element on the output device as part of a window. The window element may be any of a number of different system-provided window elements, including a system menu, a minimize box, a maximize box, or a scroll bar arrow.
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P.W. Munsch et al., “HPIVI Application Program Interface Design,”Hewlett-Packard Journal, vol. 41 (5), Oct. 1990, pp. 21-31.
Microsoft® Windows™ User's Guide, Version 3.0, for the Windows Graphical Environment, Microsoft Corporation, 1990, pp. 56-62, 145-158, and 232.
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Bayerl Raymond J.
Christensen O'Connor Johnson & Kindness PLLC
Microsoft Corporation
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