Method and apparatus for relaying events and requests in a windows systems

• US 5,717,880 A
• Filed: 09/06/1994
• Issued: 02/10/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kodama, Mami, Akutsu, Masaaki, Imai, Toru, Muranaga, Tetsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene, John E.
• Application Number:
  US08/300,999
• Time in Patent Office: 1,253 Days
• Field of Search: 395/700, 395/155-161, 395/326-358, 395/680, 345/119-120, 345/173
• US Class Current: 715/781
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications

Abstract

A scheme for controlling a screen display capable of allowing the addition of new functions such as the note entry and pointing according to the input events not requested by the application program, and preserving the meaning attributed to the drawings related to the windows even when the window state change is made. The screen display is controlled by transmitting the inputs entered at the input device as input events to an application program, and supplying the display requests made by the application program according to the prescribed types of the input events as well as the display requests according to the input events other than the prescribed types to the output device. Input events are transmitted to a window server program and then transmitted to a communication relay program which handles input events and output requests from the application program to the window server. Also, when the display of the window data is changed, the display of the drawing data is also changed in accordance with a change made in the display of the window data.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling a screen display, comprising:

a server unit for transmitting received inputs as input events, and issuing display requests for requesting the screen display; and

a relay unit for relaying the input events transmitted from the server unit to an application program and output requests transmitted from the application program to the server unit, and soliciting first types of the input events solicited by the application program as well as second types of the input events other than the first types to the server unit;

wherein the server unit transmits the first and second types of the input events solicited by the relay unit to the relay unit and issues the display requests in response to the output requests transmitted from the relay unit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the screen display provided in response to the display requests is a window display.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the relay unit transmits only the first types of the input events solicited by the application program to the application program.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the relay unit also supplies the output requests to the server unit in response to the second types of the input events solicited by the relay unit and transmitted from the server unit.

5. A method for controlling a screen display, comprising the steps of:

soliciting first types of input events solicited by an application program as well as second types of input events other than the first types from a relay program to a server program;

obtaining the input events from received inputs, and transmitting the first and second types of the input events from the server program to the relay program;

relaying the input events transmitted from the server program to the application program, and output requests transmitted from the application program to the server program, at the relay program;

issuing display requests for requesting the screen display from the server program in response to the output requests relayed by the relay program; and

providing the screen display according to the display requests supplied from the server program.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at the providing step, the screen display provided in response to the display requests is a display window.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein at the relaying step, the relay program relays only the first types of the input events solicited by the application program to the application program.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein at the relaying step, the relay program also supplies the output requests to the server program in response to the second types of the input events solicited by the relay program and transmitted from the server program.