Method and apparatus for enabling control of task execution
First Claim
1. A method of enabling a user of a computer system to control the execution of tasks by an application program on the system comprising:
- establishing for the application program a user tolerance level consisting of the time period that a user is willing to wait for the execution of a task;
whenever the user requests the system to perform a task, calculating an estimate of the time the task will require to be completed;
if the estimate is less than the user tolerance level, then performing the task;
if the estimate is greater than the user tolerance level then allowing the user to assign the task to a background processing operation; and
returning control of the system to the user for selection of another task.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system is disclosed which enables a user of a computer system to have direct control over the priorities assigned to the execution of tasks requested by the user. The user establishes a user tolerance level indicative of the delay the user is willing to tolerate before a task is assigned to background manager. Then whenever a task is requested by the user, a calculation is made to determine whether the task will require more or less time than the user tolerance. If the task requires more time, it is assigned to the control of a background manager, while if it requires less time, it is executed to completion immediately without further instruction from the user. The background manager handles the execution of all background tasks, maintaining the proper order for data consistency, yet allowing the user to rearrange execution priorities when necessary.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of enabling a user of a computer system to control the execution of tasks by an application program on the system comprising:
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establishing for the application program a user tolerance level consisting of the time period that a user is willing to wait for the execution of a task; whenever the user requests the system to perform a task, calculating an estimate of the time the task will require to be completed; if the estimate is less than the user tolerance level, then performing the task; if the estimate is greater than the user tolerance level then allowing the user to assign the task to a background processing operation; and returning control of the system to the user for selection of another task. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of enabling a user of a computer system to control execution of a plurality of tasks generated by an application program on the computer system, the method comprising the steps of:
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maintaining a list of tasks awaiting completion of execution by the computer system; displaying the list of tasks to the user on a display; in response to displaying the list of tasks, having the user prioritize the list of tasks to thereby determine which tasks will be completed first. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computing system for enabling a user to control the execution of tasks from an application program, the computing system comprising:
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a command system for accepting commands from the application program and outputting commands which instruct the computing system to carry out operations; a background manager coupled to the command system for intercepting at least some of the commands from the command system and when so instructed by the user, placing the at least some of the commands in a queue for execution at a subsequent time; and a processing system coupled to the command system and to the background manager for receiving commands from the command system and from the background manager and in response thereto carrying out operations. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus for enabling a user of a computer system to control the execution of tasks generated by an application program, the computer system comprising:
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means for establishing a user tolerance level for the application program, the user tolerance level comprising a period of time that the user is willing to wait for the execution of a task; means for calculating an estimate of the time the task will require to be completed whenever the user requests the system to perform a task; means for performing the task, when the estimate is less than the user tolerance level, then performing the task; means allowing the user to assign the task to a background processing operation when the estimate is greater than the user tolerance level then; and means for returning control of the computer system to the user for selection of another task. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer system for enabling a user of a computer system to control execution of a plurality of tasks generated by an application program, the computer system comprising:
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a display; means for maintaining a list of tasks awaiting completion of execution by the computer system; means for displaying the list of tasks to the user on the display; and means for having the user prioritize the list of tasks to thereby determine which tasks will be completed first. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification