Display system and memory architecture and method for displaying images in windows on a video display

• US 4,823,108 A
• Filed: 03/17/1988
• Issued: 04/18/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Quarterdeck Office Systems (Gen Digital Inc.)
• Inventors: Pope, Gary W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brigance, Gerald L.
• Application Number:
  US07/169,304
• Time in Patent Office: 397 Days
• Field of Search: 340/721, 340/724, 340/798, 340/799, 340/716, 340/750, 340/723, 364/521
• US Class Current: 715/806
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/393 Arrangements for updating the contents of the bit-mapped memory

Abstract

A method for displaying information within windows which are capable of overlapping on a video display of a computer controlled video display system, wherein said windows are defined by an operating environment on the video display independently of the writing of said video display data comprising the steps of:

providing a memory means within said computer including at least one pseudo-screen buffer memory means for storage of display data;

writing display data to said at least one pseudo-screen buffer memory means without calling said operating environment;

storing current display data in said pseudo-screen buffer memory means;

determining the visible display area of said windows on said video display for video display data associated with said windows; and

displaying said video display data associated with said windows from said pseudo screen buffer memory means on said visible display area of said windows.

Claims

1. In a computer display system having a central processing unit (CPU), a memory architecture, display means for displaying output display data within a plurality of windows capable of overlapping on said display means, a plurality of applications programs each associated with one of said plurality of windows and having a display data stream including address information for enabling output display of a display screen of said display means, and first logic means for providing an operating environment for said computer system, the improvement comprising:

second logic means for providing a windowing environment for determining size and location of said windows and coordinate locations of data for display in said windows on said display, said second logic means independent of said first logic means;

a plurality of pseudo-screen buffer memory means, each of said pseudo-screen buffer memory means for storing display data from one of said applications programs for display in one of said plurality of windows, said pseudo-screen buffer memory means coupled to said CPU and to said second logic means;

said second logic means including identifying means for identifying one of said windows as a visible window, for identifying and updating sequentially occurring changes in said display data stored in said pseudo-screen buffer memory means, and for identifying portions of display output data stored in said pseudo-screen buffer memory associated with said visible window as visible data;

said identifying means including a timer interrupt means, a previous image buffer memory means for storing display data on one pseudo-screen buffer memory means associated with said visible window, comparing means for logically comparing the contents of said one pseudo-screen buffer associated with said visible window with said previous image buffer and determining differences between data stored in memory locations of said one pseudo-screen buffer and said previous image buffer, and writing means for writing data from said memory locations of said pseudo-screen buffer from which said differences have been identified into said previous image buffer to update said previous image buffer during selected timer interrupt intervals with the contents of said pseudo-screen buffer;

transfer means coupled to said pseudo-screen buffer memory means and to said display means for transferring visible data from said pseudo-screen buffer memory means associated with said visible window to said visible window.

2. The computer display system and memory architecture as claimed in claim 1 wherein said display data coordinate transformation means includes;

means for determining a first offset between a first coordinate display location of an associated window and a first coordinate display location of said video display;

means for determining a second offset between a first coordinate memory location of said pseudo-screen buffer and a first memory location within said pseudo-screen buffer associated with said windows;

logic means for determining the differences between said first offset and said second offset, said difference being defined as a window offset-utilized for determining the video display coordinate location of display data stored in said pseudo-screen buffer within an associated visible window on said video display.

3. The computer display system and memory architecture as claimed in claim 2 further including:

means for determining a third offset between memory locations of selectively changed characters within said pseudo-screen buffer changed between sequential timer interrupt intervals, and said first memory location of said pseudo-screen buffer.

4. The display system and memory architecture as claimed in claim 3 further including means for determining the location of said arbitrary or selectively changed characters on the visible portion of a window associated with said characters on the video display, whereby the location within the visible portion of a current window for display data associated with that window is determined.

5. The display system and memory architecture as claimed in claim 4 further including providing means for labelling each said pseudo-screen buffer.

6. The display system and memory architecture as claimed in claim 5, wherein the label of each pseudo-screen buffer corresponding to each said window is stored in memory locations of a screen map memory means which correspond to visible window locations of said video display.

7. A method for displaying information within windows which are capable of overlapping on a video display of a computer controlled video display system having means for controlling and defining said windows logically independent of an operating environment for writing of said video display data comprising the steps of:

storing said video display data at least one pseudo screen buffer memory means;

writing display data to said at least one pseudo screen buffer memory means without calling said operating environment;

storing in a previous image buffer current display area of said windows on said video display for video display data associated with said windows;

updating said display data written to said video display at selected timer interrupt intervals;

displaying said video display data associated with said windows from said pseudo screen buffer memory means on said visible display area of said windows.

8. The method as defined by claim 7, wherein the step of updating comprises the steps of:

comparing selective locations of said previous image buffer with corresponding memory locations of said at least one pseudo screen buffer;

selecting regions of memory of said at least one pseudo screen buffer to be compared, and selecting a frequency rate of comparison for said selected memory regions;

identifying differences between corresponding memory locations in said at least one pseudo screen buffer and said previous image buffer;

and writing the contents of corresponding memory locations of said pseudo screen buffer into said previous image buffer for memory locations where differences there between are identified.

9. The method as defined by claim 8, wherein said frequency of comparing and updating is increased when the frequency of display data change increases.

10. The method as defined by claim 9, further including the steps of:

labeling each pseudo-screen buffer with a label storing display data of a computer program associated with said pseudo-screen buffer for identifying each said pseudo-screen buffer;

storing said label for each memory location associated therewith in corresponding coordinate character locations within said representation of said windows in said screen map such that only a priority overlapping window stores its corresponding image buffer label at overlapping areas of said window within said screen map.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9 comprising the further step of writing display data from said previous image buffer into corresponding windows on said video display for each corresponding memory location of said previous image buffer having its corresponding label stored in said screen map representation of said windows, whereby display data is displayed only in visible portions of windows defined on said video display.

12. The method as defined by claim 7 further including the steps of:

defining an offset operator for display data coordinates of display data stored within said pseudo screen buffer memory means corresponding to the location of said display data in said pseudo screen buffer memory means for a window associated therewith in said video display, said offset operator to determine coordinate locations at which said display data will be written to said video display when said display data is visible on said video display;

determining the locations at which said display data will be written in said visible portions of said video display;

providing a screen map memory region for mapping an image representation of said windows defined on said video display;

identifying coordinate character locations within said windows in said screen map corresponding to visible coordinate character locations of said display data on the video display.

13. The method as defined by claim 12 wherein the steps of transforming display data coordinates and applying said offset operator comprises the steps of:

determining a first screen offset representing the relational position of the first coordinate display location of a corresponding window from the first coordinate display location of said video display;

determining a first pseudo-screen buffer offset representing the relational position of the first coordinate memory location within said pseudo-screen buffer associated with said a corresponding window from the first coordinate memory location of said pseudo-screen buffer; and

determining the difference between said first screen offset and said pseudo-screen buffer offset to define a constant for determining the video display coordinate location of display data stored in said pseudo-screen buffer within corresponding visible window on said video display.