Interactive system with state manager subsystem
First Claim
1. An interactive system comprising:
- (1) a user interaction subsystem for controlling an interactive device belonging to the interactive system, the user interaction subsystem receiving a user-produced input from the interactive device and a user-destined input and producing a user-perceivable output of output to the interactive device and a system-destined output;
((2) a data transformation subsystem which receives a problem input and produces a result output; and
(3) a state manager subsystem for managing transitions between states of the interactive system, the state manager subsystem receiving state manager inputs including the system-destined output and the result output and producing state manager outputs including the problem input and the user-destined input and the state manager subsystem including(a) expected state describing means for describing a set of expected states of the states of the interactive system and the transitions therebetween,(b) active state describing means for describing a current set of active states of the states of the interactive system, and(c) state management means responsive to a state manager input, to the expected state describing means and to the active state describing means for producing the transitions, each transition being produced as required by the current set of active states, the state manager input, and the expected states, producing a new current set of active states, and producing a state manager output in connection with certain of the transitions.
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Abstract
An interactive system has a component which manages interactions with the user and a component which manages data transformations. Communication between the interactive component and the data transformation component is by means of a state manager component. The state manager component includes an expected state description, which describes operation of the interactive system as a set of states and transitions therebetween, and an active state description, which describes as much of the present and past state of the interactive system as is required to determine the next state and to "back out" of the present state is response to user inputs specifying "cancel" or "undo" operations. Routines in the state manager interpret the expected state description and the active state description in response to inputs from the interactive component and the data transformation component, and as determined by the inputs and the state descriptions, the routines perform a transition to a new state and produce an output to the interactive component or the data transformation component. In the state model used in the state descriptions, initiating a state involves determining whether any conditions for entry have been fulfilled and activating substates, while completing a state involves determining whether any conditions for exit from the state have been fulfilled and determining the state to which a transition is to be attempted.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. An interactive system comprising:
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(1) a user interaction subsystem for controlling an interactive device belonging to the interactive system, the user interaction subsystem receiving a user-produced input from the interactive device and a user-destined input and producing a user-perceivable output of output to the interactive device and a system-destined output; ((2) a data transformation subsystem which receives a problem input and produces a result output; and (3) a state manager subsystem for managing transitions between states of the interactive system, the state manager subsystem receiving state manager inputs including the system-destined output and the result output and producing state manager outputs including the problem input and the user-destined input and the state manager subsystem including (a) expected state describing means for describing a set of expected states of the states of the interactive system and the transitions therebetween, (b) active state describing means for describing a current set of active states of the states of the interactive system, and (c) state management means responsive to a state manager input, to the expected state describing means and to the active state describing means for producing the transitions, each transition being produced as required by the current set of active states, the state manager input, and the expected states, producing a new current set of active states, and producing a state manager output in connection with certain of the transitions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification