Conference aiding system and computer memory product for relating an object to a file on a display screen

• US 6,195,684 B1
• Filed: 09/29/1997
• Issued: 02/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Watanabe, Satoru, Obata, Akihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Rinehart, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): KANG, PAUL H
• Application Number:
  US08/940,006
• Time in Patent Office: 1,247 Days
• Field of Search: 345/330, 345/331, 345/2, 345/113, 709/200, 709/204, 709/205, 709/208, 709/248
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15

Abstract

An electronic conference aiding system having a structure in which one common information processing apparatus having a common display unit having a size sufficiently large for attendants to commonly watch display and a plurality of personal information processing apparatuses each having a personal display unit for exclusively creating and displaying information at a position adjacent to each attendant are connected into a network through data communication passage, wherein a comment, a reference material or the like is, as an object, related to a file displayed on the common display unit or the personal display unit in such a manner that the object is displayed at an unspecific position on the file to indicate the relation as a previous step in place of immediately embedding the object at a specific position of the file. The necessity of considering the position on the displayed file can be eliminated and the object is related to the overall portion of the file when the object is displayed. Thus, a larger number of objects are related to the file and displayed in a short time.

Claims

1. A conference aiding system structured such that a main information processing apparatus having a main display unit for displaying information and a plurality of sub-information processing apparatuses each having a sub-display unit for displaying information are connected to one another through a communication passage to communicate information among the information processing apparatuses, and a file and an object, said conference aiding system comprising:

a first relation establishing unit to establish a first relation in which an object is attached to a file, and thereby displayed at an unspecific position with respect to the file on said main display unit and/or said sub-display unit such that movement of one of the object and the file causes movement of the other on said display unit, and scrolling of said one does not cause synchronous scrolling of the other; and

a second relation establishing unit to establish a second relation between the object and the file in which the object is embedded and displayed at a specific embedding position of the file on said main display unit and/or said sub-display unit such that the first relation is cancelled when the second relation is established,

wherein said first relation is restored when said second relation is cancelled.

2. A conference aiding system according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for controlling said first relation establishing unit to establish the first relation between the object and the file as a previous step for establishing the second relation.

3. A conference aiding system according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for canceling the first relation of the object.

4. A conference aiding system according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for canceling the second relation of the object.

5. A conference aiding system according to claim 1, wherein

said sub-information processing apparatus includes means for creating an object and means for sending the created object to said main information processing apparatus through said communication passage,

said main information processing apparatus includes means for displaying the sent object on said main display unit in such a manner that the object has established the first relation with the file displayed on said main display unit.

6. A conference aiding system according to claim 1, wherein

said sub-information processing apparatus includes means for creating an object and means for displaying the created object on said sub-display unit in such a manner that the object has established the first relation with the file displayed on said sub-display unit.

7. A computer memory product storing a computer program for causing a file and an object, which are information items, to be displayed on a display unit for displaying information in a state where the object is related to the file or a state where the object is independent from the file, said computer program comprising the steps of:

establishing a first relation in which an object is attached to a file and thereby displayed at an unspecific position with respect to the file on said display unit such that movement of one of the object and the file causes movement of the other on said display unit, and scrolling of said one does not cause synchronous scrolling of the other; and

establishing a second relation between the object and the file in which the object is embedded and displayed at a specific position of a file on said display unit such that the first relation is cancelled when the second relation is established and said first relation is restored when said second relation is cancelled.

8. A computer memory product according to claim 7, said computer program further comprising the steps of:

canceling the first relation of the object; and

canceling the second relation of the object.

9. A computer memory product having computer readable program code means capable of reading by a computer for causing a file and an object, which are information items, to be displayed on a display unit for displaying information in a state where the object is related to the file or a state where the object is independent from the file, said computer readable program code means comprising:

program code means for causing the computer to establish a first relation in which an object is attached to a file and thereby displayed at an unspecific position with respect to the file on said display unit such that movement of one of the object and the file causes movement of the other on said display unit, and scrolling of said one does not cause synchronous scrolling of the other; and

program code means for causing the computer to establish a second relation between the object and the file in which the object is embedded and displayed at a specific position of the file on said display unit such that the first relation is cancelled when the second relation is established and said first relation is restored when said second relation is cancelled.

10. A computer memo product according to claim 9, said computer readable problem code means further comprising:

program code means for causing said computer to cancel the first relation of the object; and

program code means for causing said computer to cancel the second relation of the object.

11. A conference aiding system structured such that a main information processing apparatus having a main display unit for displaying information and a plurality of sub-information processing apparatuses each having a sub-display unit for displaying information are connected to one another through a communication passage, said conference aiding system comprising:

a first relation establishing unit to establish a first relation in which an object is attached to a file, and thereby displayed at an unspecific position with respect to the file on said main display unit and said sub-display unit such that movement of one of the object and the file causes movement of the other on said display unit, and scrolling of said one does not cause synchronous scrolling of the other;

an attachment control table to store information of the object and information of the file according to an attachment relation;

a second relation establishing unit to establish a second relation between the object and the file in which the object is embedded and displayed at a specific embedding position of the file on said main display unit and said sub-display unit; and

an embedding control table to store the information of the object and the information of the file according to an embedding relation, said embedding control table receiving the information of the object and the information of the file from said attachment control table,

wherein the information of the object is erased from the attachment control table after establishing of the second relation by said second relation establishing unit.

12. The conference aiding system according to claim 11, wherein after said second relation establishing unit establishes the second relation, the object is displayed in the file using an associated file name.

13. The conference aiding system according to claim 11, wherein the embedded object is graphic data, text data, or material data.

14. A conference aiding system structured such that a main information processing apparatus having a main display unit for displaying information and a plurality of sub-information processing apparatus, each having a sub-display unit for displaying information, are connected to one another through a communication passage and that a file and an object, which are information items, are displayed in the main display unit in a state where the object is related to the file or a state where the object is independent from the file, said conference aiding system comprising:

a sending unit for sending the object created in the sub-information processing apparatus to the main information processing apparatus through the communication passage;

a first relation establishing unit for establishing a first relation in which the sent object is displayed at an unspecific position of a file displayed in the main display unit such that movement of the sent object or the file causes movement of the sent object or the file on the main display unit, and scrolling of the sent object or the file does not cause synchronous scrolling of the sent object or the file on the main display unit, or in which a second object embedded at a specific position of the file as a second relation is retrieved and the second object is displayed at an unspecific position of the file, such that movement of the second object or the file causes movement of the second object or the file on the main display unit and scrolling of the second object or the file does not cause synchronous scrolling of the second object or the file on the main display unit; and

a second relation establishing unit for establishing the second relation in which the sent object, after establishing the first relation, is embedded and displayed at a specific position of the file displayed on the main display unit.