Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-10
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, C345S960000, C709S203000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06262725
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(This application includes matter protected by copyright. All rights are reserved.)
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is directed to managing a large distributed computer enterprise environment and, in particular, to graphic display methods for use in displaying locale-sensitive information such as local holidays.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Large organizations now desire to place all of their computing resources on a computer network. To this end, it is known to connect computers in a large, geographically-dispersed network environment and to manage such an environment in a distributed manner. One such management framework consists of a server that manages a number of nodes, each of which has a local object database that stores object data specific to the local node. Each managed node typically includes a management framework, comprising a number of management routines, that is capable of a relatively large number (e.g., hundreds) of simultaneous network connections to remote machines. The framework manages hundreds of megabytes of local storage and can spawn many dozens of simultaneous processes to handle method requests from local or remote users.
Managed nodes are often located across national boundaries. Thus, a typical managed network of the type described above may include offices located in numerous countries. Multinational companies that operate such networks must deal with scheduling administrative events in these different locales. These locales, however, often have different holidays that impact such scheduling. As an example, assume the enterprise desires to upgrade each endpoint computer in a managed region with a new version of a large computer program. Obviously, it would not be desirable to distribute this new load during the day when computer users are otherwise occupied and working. A better solution would be to distribute the new program files on a day in which the system usage is relatively low, e.g., a holiday, such as U.S. Independence Day, July 4th. Independence Day, of course, is not a holiday outside the United States. Thus, while distribution on July 4th would make sense for those endpoint computers operating within the United States, such distribution would be undesirable in the Company's other offices (e.g., the United Kingdom, Egypt, Italy and the like).
Thus, to the extent a large managed region crosses country boundaries, it is necessary to deal with the problem of scheduling management tasks while taking into consideration local holidays or other events that may impact such scheduling.
The present invention addresses this problem.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of this invention to implement a display calendar usable world-wide, presented in a culturally correct format.
It is an object of the present invention to implement locale-sensitive holiday scheduling in a large distributed computer enterprise environment.
It is another object of this invention to provide a display mechanism that enables programs running in multiple locales to deal with different holidays that are significant in the locale.
Yet another object of this invention to provide a user configurable, calendar preferences display mechanism for generating locale-sensitive display calendars in a distributed computer enterprise environment.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a user-configurable, locale-independent holiday listing.
It is another primary object of this invention to display a graphical representation of a monthly calendar and to support multiple calendar styles.
It is a further specific object of the invention to implement a locale-sensitive holiday display mechanism for use in a managed computer enterprise environment spanning the boundaries of culturally-diverse countries.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an object-oriented “class” construct that encompasses given information about a locale-specific holiday. The holiday class enables information about specific holidays to be encapsulated and thus easily manipulated by graphic display routines executing on a given computer.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to display a graphical representation of a calendar that adapts its display to the conventions of the locale in which it is being run or the stored preferences of a system administrator. Thus, for example, in an English language, United States locale, weeks start on Sunday and the text for the day of the week and month names are displayed in English. If the locale and language were switched to Italian language and locale, the first day of the week would be Lundi (Monday) and all text displays would be in Italian. This behavior requires no intervention on the part of the programmer or user.
Each system is provided with a separate resource list of holidays for each supported locale. In unsupported locales, preferably a default resource is used since the locale-specific resource is not provided. The default resource contains no holiday specifiers, so the calendar will not have any holidays displayed. This prevents inappropriate display of holidays that are not observed in the locale. Other holidays may be added by the user to create their own locale-specific resource.
In accordance with the invention, a display method is operative within a display device of a data processing system connected in a distributed computing environment having nodes located across geographically-dispersed boundaries. The method begins by defining a set of holiday objects corresponding to a set of holidays specific to a given locale. The calendar, together with at least one holiday defined by at least one of the set of holiday objects, are then selectively displayed if the data processing system is operative within the given locale. Preferably, a given holiday object is defined according to an object-oriented class construct to facilitate implementation of the inventive holiday display calendar using local object-oriented resources (e.g., Java-based classes).
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent features and objects of the present invention. These features and objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description of the preferred embodiment.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5855006 (1998-12-01), Huemoeller et al.
patent: 5893073 (1999-04-01), Kasso et al.
patent: 5960406 (1999-09-01), Rasansky et al.
patent: 6018343 (2000-01-01), Wang et al.
patent: 6111572 (2000-08-01), Blair et al.
Hetherington David James
Kumhyr David Bruce
Bayerl Raymond J.
International Business Machines - Corporation
LaBaw Jeffrey S.
Nguyen Cao H.
Yee Duke W.
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