Prioritization of background display during animation
First Claim
1. A multitasking data processing system that displays an animated image, generated by a first process, superimposed on at least one other image, generated by a second process, comprising:
- means for determining whether said animated image will cause a previously obscured area of said other image to become visible; and
means for assigning a first priority value to said first process which is relatively lower than a second priority value assigned to said second process;
wherein said data processing system executes said second process at a higher relative priority than said first process such that said other image is available for display when said animated image exposes said other image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is provided that causes an animation sequence and underlying background process to be in step such that the motion of the animation is coordinated with the painting of the display by the underlying process. A mechanism is used to adjust the thread priority of the animation thread. When the animation is starting, the priority of the animation threads is set to BELOW-- NORMAL priority. The animation process is then implemented. Subsequently, the animation threads are set back to NORMAL priority. Because the priority of the animation threads is below normal the other, contending processes will react more quickly (due to their higher priority) during the animation process. This will cause the other processes to update (paint) their client areas more quickly. Each change to another processes client area will cause an update to that area, since that other process will have a higher priority relative to the animation sequence.
142 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A multitasking data processing system that displays an animated image, generated by a first process, superimposed on at least one other image, generated by a second process, comprising:
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means for determining whether said animated image will cause a previously obscured area of said other image to become visible; and means for assigning a first priority value to said first process which is relatively lower than a second priority value assigned to said second process; wherein said data processing system executes said second process at a higher relative priority than said first process such that said other image is available for display when said animated image exposes said other image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer implemented method for displaying an animated image, generated by a first process, on a multitasking data processing system, said animated image being superimposed on at least one other image being generated by a second process, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining whether said animated image will cause a previously obscured area of said other image to become visible; and assigning a first priority value to said first process which is relatively lower than a second priority value assigned to said second process; wherein said data processing system executes said second process at a higher relative priority than said first process such that said other image is available for display when said animated image exposes said other image. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer program including data structures stored on a computer readable media the causes an animated image, generated by a first process, to be displayed superimposed on at least one other image, generated by a second process, said computer program comprising:
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means for determining whether said animated image will cause a previously obscured area of said other image to become visible; and means for assigning a first priority value to said first process which is relatively lower than a second priority value assigned to said second process; wherein a data processing system will execute said second process at a higher relative priority than said first process such that said other image is available for display when said animated image exposes said other image. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification