System for dynamically accommodating changes in display configuration by notifying changes to currently running application programs to generate information by application programs to conform to changed configuration
First Claim
1. In a computer, a system for controlling the display of information generated by application programs running on the computer, comprising:
- means for determining the configuration of a display environment for the computer;
means for detecting a change in said configuration and, in response thereto, for determining differences between the original configuration and the changed configuration;
means responsive to said differences for identifying information whose display is affected by said differences; and
means for communicating the changed configuration to said application programs while said programs are running on the computer, to cause information generated by said applications programs which are affected by said differences to be displayed in the changed configuration without requiring a restart of the computer.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A display management architecture detects changes in a display environment and notifies software programs, such as the operating system and applications programs, of the changes to enable them to adjust accordingly. The display management system comprises one part of the computer'"'"'s operating system, and includes a display manager that provides communication channels between the operating system, other software programs, display drivers and video drivers. The display manager receives information from the drivers regarding the display capabilities of associated display devices, and provides reconfiguration services to other software within the computer. When a change in the display environment occurs, the display manager notifies the software programs of the changes, to enable them to dynamically update or reconfigure the displayed information accordingly. If a program is not able to respond to such a notification, the display manager repositions displayed objects in accordance with the new display environment. All of these actions take place in a real-time fashion while the computer is running, and avoid the need to restart the computer before any changes can take effect.
153 Citations
35 Claims
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1. In a computer, a system for controlling the display of information generated by application programs running on the computer, comprising:
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means for determining the configuration of a display environment for the computer; means for detecting a change in said configuration and, in response thereto, for determining differences between the original configuration and the changed configuration; means responsive to said differences for identifying information whose display is affected by said differences; and means for communicating the changed configuration to said application programs while said programs are running on the computer, to cause information generated by said applications programs which are affected by said differences to be displayed in the changed configuration without requiring a restart of the computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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5. A method for controlling the display of information in a computer system, comprising the steps of:
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generating a request to change the display environment for the computer system; storing the current state of displayed information; identifying information that is displayed on a display device in the stored current state; determining a new configuration for the display environment; determining the location of at least one display device in the new configuration; providing information to one or more application programs running on the computer of the change in configuration of the display environment to enable said application programs to adjust displayed information generated by said application programs to conform to the new configuration while said programs are running on the computer system; and repositioning displayed information to conform to the new configuration by moving at least some of said identified information to the location of said display device in the new configuration. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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17. A computer system, comprising:
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at least one display device for displaying information processed within the computer system; and an operating system for receiving information generated by application programs running on said computer system and providing said information to said display device for display thereof, said operating system including a display manager which is responsive to changes in configuration of said display device to provide a notification of such changes to application programs running on said computer to cause said information generated by said application programs to conform to the changed configuration. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification