Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer-to-computer data routing – Least weight routing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-13
2002-12-03
Courtenay, III, St. John (Department: 2151)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer-to-computer data routing
Least weight routing
Reexamination Certificate
active
06490634
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to computer software programs and more specifically to software programs for automatically transferring digital data from one application program to another.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A common apparatus used in the computer industry is a scanner. A scanner translates physical data, such as a document or a photograph, into a digital representation of the data for use in the computer. The digital data are placed in an application. This application is usually associated with the scanner so I will call it a scanning application or source application.
An application is generally any distinct program in a computer—for example, a word-processing application, a financial-management application, a drawing application, or in this case a scanning application. Modern computers employ a multitasking environment, which means that a computer can operate several applications simultaneously.
Modern multitasking computer environments are available as various commercial operating systems such as Windows® and Macintosh systems®. In order to facilitate use of the multitasking environment these commercial products use a graphical user interface. The graphical interface allows the user to operate the computer by pointing at commands with a mouse or touch pad and clicking to implement a command.
One common resource in such operating systems, sometimes called a “clipboard” is an area of shared memory for all the applications. Data can be transferred from one application to another through the use of the clipboard. All applications have access to the clipboard, and the clipboard can accept data in commonly used formats from applications.
Use of the term “clipboard” is not meant to limit my invention to the Windows environment. The term is meant to describe broadly an area of storage for objects, data, or their references, in any multitasking environment.
Drag-and-drop transfer is another feature of the graphical interface in a Windows-like system. It allows the user to transfer data from one application to another though the graphical user interface and mouse or touchpad.
Even if the destination application indicates that it supports a drag-and-drop transfer, there is a chance that the destination application cannot use the data “dropped” onto it. The reason for this seeming error is that the destination application does not know what the data are that are being dropped onto it until after the drop is completed.
This is an unavoidable peril in making drag-and-drop transfers, whether they are made manually or automatically. I say unavoidable because, after all, these destination applications have been or will be designed by others and each application has a different format.
The Microsoft Corporation publishes a book titled
Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design
. This book can be consulted for basic design principles in creating any application for the Windows environment. It can also be consulted for further understanding of certain concepts embodied in my invention.
RELATED ART
Many users want to transfer the digital data from the scanning application to a different application to edit the data or to use the data in a project. Currently there are two different methods available for transferring the digital data, a manual transfer or a single-method transfer program.
(a) Manual transfer—The user might be able to manually transfer digital data by performing all the steps in one of the following procedures:
1. Save the data to a file, start the destination application and then open the file in the destination application.
2. Copy the data from a source application to the system clipboard, start the destination application and paste the data from the clipboard to the destination application.
3. Using the now familiar graphic user interface and mouse or touchpad, drag the data icon from the source application and drop the data icon onto the destination application.
Although the user may attempt to transfer digital data through one of the above procedures, the destination application may not support that particular type of transfer. Therefore, even after one of the manual transfer procedures has been painstakingly followed, the transfer may fail.
If it fails, the user is left attempting the transfer by one of the other two manual procedures, which also may fail. Therefore, the user may have applied all three manual methods before successfully completing a transfer.
(b) Transfer programs—In response to the cumbersome nature of the manual transfer procedures, several types of software programs have been produced. These programs use different types of transfer methods: a single-method transfer, a preselected domain of supported applications, or a combination of the two.
A single-method transfer program automates one of the three manual procedures described above. This program reduces the amount of work required to transfer digital data as long as the destination application supports the particular type of transfer that the program employs.
If the single-method transfer program fails, the user must then resort to manually transferring the data. Thus, the problems associated with manual transfer discussed above are still present in this type of program.
A preselected domain of supported applications is a transfer program which contains a database of enumerated applications for which the program can complete a transfer. The database also specifies a transfer method for each of the enumerated applications.
When the user attempts a data transfer to a destination application, unless the destination application is one enumerated in the programs database, it cannot be completed. Therefore, the user is again left to attempt a manual transfer of the data.
Due to the shortcomings of the above transfer programs others have combined the two transfer methods discussed above to increase the probability that the data transfer will be successful. The problem is, however, that the user is still too often left to attempt a manual transfer.
(c) Conclusion—The methods discussed above fail to achieve quick and easy digital data transfer. Thus important aspects of the technology used in the field of the invention remain amenable to useful refinement.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present invention introduces such refinement. In its preferred embodiments, the present invention has several aspects or facets that can be used independently, although they are preferably employed together to optimize their benefits.
In preferred embodiments of a first of its facets or aspects, the invention is an apparatus for transferring digital data from a source application in a computer to a destination application in a computer through one of plural types of transfers. The transfer is not limited to applications in one computer—the transfer may occur from a source application in one computer to a destination application in another computer. The word computer is to be interpreted in a broad sense to encompass any mode or means that may be developed for holding a procedure or application.
The apparatus includes some means for automatically determining how a digital data transfer can be made. For purposes of breadth and generality in describing and discussing my invention, I shall call these means the “determining means”. The determining means operate by analyzing whether the destination application is receptive to a particular type of transfer.
The apparatus further includes some means for automatically making a type of transfer to which the analyzing shows the destination application is receptive. Again for generality and breadth in discussing my invention, I shall refer to these means simply as the “transfer-making means”. The transfer-making means operate in response to the output of the determining means.
The foregoing may constitute a description or definition of the first facet of the invention in its broadest or most general form. Even in this general form, however, it can be seen that this aspect of the invention significantly mitigates the difficulties left unresolved in t
Courtenay III St. John
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Nguyen Van H.
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