Full-screen input/output application program interface
First Claim
1. A method of providing full-screen input/output operations in an information handling system having a central processing unit controlled by an operating system and having one or more application programs that perform input/output operations to a display device, said method being performed by a console facility communicating between said operating system and said one or more application programs, comprising the steps of:
- determining characteristics of the display device in response to an inquiry for said characteristics from an application program and providing these characteristics to the application programfor use in providing a buffer and, if an output operation is to be performed,construction a data stream for the device;
in response to a request from an application program to performa full screen input/output operation using the buffer and any data stream provided by the application program, building a parameter list;
generating instructions to process the request;
passing the generated instructions to theoperating system to perform the desired full screen input/output operation; and
passing status information resulting from the input/output operation to the application program.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An application program interface for handling full-screen input/output (I/O) operations of a display device in an information handling system, such as a computer system running one or more application programs in conjunction with an operating system. The application program interface first determines characteristics of the display device in response to a request from an application program prior to performing a full-screen I/O operation, and provides these characteristics to the application program so that the application program can provide a buffer, and if an output is to be performed, construct a valid data stream for the display device. Then the application program interface builds a parameter list in response to a request from an application program to actually perform the full-screen I/O operation. Next, in response to the parameter list, the application program interface generates instructions to process the full-screen I/O operation and coordinate this request with other requests made by other application programs. The application program interface then passes the generated instructions to a control program of the information handling system to perform the desired full-screen I/O operation, and handles any status information resulting from the I/O operation. In this manner, the application program interface provides a means for allowing an application programmer to write an application program without being concerned with low level detail of a full-screen I/O operation, as well as providing a means for coordinating full-screen I/O use of a display device by several application programs in an information handling system, and a means for allowing an application program to be architecture independent with respect to full-screen I/O operation.
50 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A method of providing full-screen input/output operations in an information handling system having a central processing unit controlled by an operating system and having one or more application programs that perform input/output operations to a display device, said method being performed by a console facility communicating between said operating system and said one or more application programs, comprising the steps of:
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determining characteristics of the display device in response to an inquiry for said characteristics from an application program and providing these characteristics to the application program for use in providing a buffer and, if an output operation is to be performed, construction a data stream for the device; in response to a request from an application program to perform a full screen input/output operation using the buffer and any data stream provided by the application program, building a parameter list;
generating instructions to process the request;
passing the generated instructions to theoperating system to perform the desired full screen input/output operation; and passing status information resulting from the input/output operation to the application program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification