Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Graph generating
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-14
2001-06-19
Zimmerman, Mark (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Graph generating
C345S427000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06249290
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to computing architectures which may be used in conjunction with a graphical user interface, and more particularly to zooming graphical user interfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
The available display screen area on a computer monitor has become increasingly inadequate in terms of the presentation of the variety of information and resources available to the user. In this regard, conventional computing systems have attempted to provide various solutions to address the problem of limited display screen area.
For example, windowing systems divide a screen into multiple tiled or overlapping display areas, resembling sheets of paper on a desktop, with one window in the foreground and others in the background. These windows remind the user that other information and control options are readily available to be brought to the foreground at the click of a mouse on an unobscured point in the window containing the desired material. However, such systems typically allow only a limited number of windows to be open and only the foreground window to be operable at any one time. In addition, information within a window that does not fit on the window's display screen area must be scrolled using an input device in order to access chosen information.
Another attempt to increase displayed information and control options is the use of hierarchical menuing through a sequence of display screens, offered to the user as a cascade of windows or a single designated screen area overwritten for each submenu. Typically, hierarchical menus rely upon information organized into decision trees. Abbreviating menuing options causes the menus to be less user friendly as menus do not always suggest sub-menu options. Further, cascaded windows introduce screen clutter and prevent the user from seeing all of the cascaded information simultaneously.
Zooming graphical user interfaces allow navigation into or out of the display screen, and can thus allow zooming graphical objects to be viewed from various perspectives at various levels of granularity. This provides the ability to variously view large numbers of objects at low resolution (e.g., by zooming away from them), or smaller numbers of objects at higher resolution (e.g., by zooming towards them). Thus, the user can review available resources from a broad perspective, and then focus with greater detail on particular resources.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Conventional zooming graphical user interfaces typically implement static hardcoded systems, which are inflexible in various aspects, and which are difficult to update. For example, certain conventional approaches implement look up tables for determining the behavior of displayed objects, and do not efficiently update the display responsive to requests by the user. What is needed is a graphical user interface with an architecture having improved flexibility, and more efficient functionality.
According certain aspects of the present invention, customized behavior can be associated with selected zooming objects, and the zooming view shown on the display is more efficiently updated responsive to events. These aspects are facilitated by providing separate management of the zooming view, and applying an event response scheme that implements a determination of whether the event pertains to the zooming view, or individual (or groups ) of zooming objects.
One embodiment of a zooming engine in accordance with the present invention implements an object oriented architecture including a class for defining zooming objects, a view manager, and an event manager. The zooming objects can variously reside in a zooming space. Dependent upon the perspective, certain of the zooming objects will appear in a zooming view. The view manager manages the zooming view by, among other things, identifying those zooming objects that reside in the zooming view. The event manager receives an event, such as the selection of a location in the zooming view via a user's mouse click, and determines whether the event pertains to the zooming view, or to a particular zooming object(s), whereupon the event is appropriately assigned. The object to which the event is assigned may be referred to as a target. This allows events to be more efficiently processed, as certain events can be handled on a view level, rather than requiring individual requests to each object in the zooming view.
According to another aspect of the present invention, one or more event handlers are associated with the zooming objects, and with the view manager. These event handlers allow the zooming objects (as well as the view) to have customized event responsive behavior. Additionally, a particular event handler may be associated with numerous zooming objects, and a particular zooming object can be associated with numerous event handlers, which provides better efficiency, allows easier behavioral updates, and minimizes code reproduction.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the view manager implements a type of event handler, referred to as a pick handler, which responds to a view targeted event by identifying those zooming objects within the view that are then reassigned as the target for the event. Specifically, an event can be received by the event manager and assigned to the view manager as the target. The view manager then references its event handlers, including the pick handler, which identifies those objects in the zooming view that are targeted to process the event. The event can then be passed to the targeted zooming objects, which also have references to event handlers. These event handlers then provide particular event responsive behavior for the targeted zooming objects.
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Cataudella Salvatore
Cunningham Kathleen
Herndon Kenneth
Fujii Harold T.
Santiago Enrique L
Sony Corporation
Tobin Christopher M.
Zimmerman Mark
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