Method and apparatus for manipulating and displaying graphical objects in a computer display device

• US 6,366,293 B1
• Filed: 09/29/1998
• Issued: 04/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Allen-Bradley Company LLC (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Software Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hamilton, Jeffrey L., Schlussman, Bret D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brier, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): BLACKMAN, ANTHONY J
• Application Number:
  US09/163,934
• Time in Patent Office: 1,281 Days
• Field of Search: 345/433, 345/440, 345/649, 345/449, 345/650, 345/652, 703/1, 703/7, 700/260, 700/263
• US Class Current: 345/649
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1671 characterised by simulation, either to verify existing program or to create and verify new program, CAD/CAM oriented, graphic oriented programming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40097 Select stations with mouse to create process steps
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40099 Graphical user interface for robotics, visual robot user interface
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/20 3D [Three Dimensional] animation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2016 Rotation, translation, scaling

Abstract

A graphical object in an object-oriented environment is comprised of a plurality of child graphical objects. The parent graphical object and each of the child graphical objects have a property corresponding to the orientation of a representation of the respective object. A connection tree is formed from the parent graphical object which has the initial values of each property of the child graphical objects. During operation, the value of the property of the graphical object may be altered corresponding to a change in the position of the object'"'"'s graphical representation. The altered value is broadcast through the connection tree to allow recalculation of each child object'"'"'s property based upon its initial value so that the parent object and its child objects can be graphically displayed based on the changed position.

Claims

1. A method of manipulating and displaying a graphical object on a computer display device of a computer system which includes the computer display device, a processor, and memory, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a graphical object in an object-oriented environment and storing the graphical object in the memory of the computer system, the graphical object comprising a plurality of child graphical objects, the graphical object and each of the child graphical objects having a property corresponding to the orientation of a representation of the respective graphical object, at least two of said graphical objects being operatively connected to one another through an anchor point with one of said graphical objects having an anchor property corresponding to rotation of the respective graphical object representation about the anchor point, the anchor property having locked and unlocked settings, the property of each of the respective graphical objects having an initial value;

scanning the graphical object by traversing through each of the child graphical objects to form a connection tree having the initial values of each property of the respective graphical objects;

altering the value of the property of the graphical object from the initial value corresponding to a change in the position of the representation of the graphical object; and

graphically displaying the representation of the graphical object on the display device by traversing through the connection tree to broadcast the altered value of the graphical object to each of the child graphical objects, recalculating the value of each property of the child graphical objects based on its initial value and the altered value of the graphical object, the value of the anchor properly remaining unchanged when in the locked setting and altered when in the unlocked setting where a change of position occurs to at least one of the representations of the graphical objects which are operatively connected to one another through the anchor point, and displaying the representation of the graphical object including its child graphical objects on the display device with said recalculated values.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein creating a graphical object includes:

determining a relationship between at least two physical components based on a physical proximity factor; and

enabling a user to adjust the orientation of the representation of at least two child graphical objects relative to one another by operating a pointer device operatively connected to the computer system so that the orientation of the representations of the at least two graphical objects graphically represents the physical proximity factor of the two physical components.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of scanning the graphical object includes the step of storing the connection tree in the memory of the computer system.

4. A computer system comprising:

a computer operating in an object-oriented environment;

a memory operatively coupled to the computer;

a graphical object stored within the memory of the computer, the graphical object comprising a plurality of child graphical objects, the graphical object and each of the child graphical objects having a property corresponding to the orientation of a representation of the respective graphical object, at least two of said graphical objects being operatively connected to one another through an anchor point with one of said graphical objects having an anchor property corresponding to rotation of the respective graphical object representation about the anchor point;

the anchor property having locked and unlocked settings, the property of each of the respective graphical objects having an initial value;

a display screen, operatively coupled to the memory, for graphically displaying a representation of the graphical object including representations of each of its child graphical objects;

means for scanning the graphical object to form a connection tree having the initial values of each property of the child graphical objects;

means for altering the value of the property of the graphical object representing a change in the position of the graphical object; and

means for graphically displaying the representation of the graphical object on the display screen by broadcasting the altered value of the graphical object to each of the child graphical objects, recalculating the value of each property of the child graphical objects based on its initial value and the altered value of the graphical object, the value of the anchor property remaining unchanged when in the locked setting and altered when in the unlocked setting where a change of position occurs to at least one of the representations of the graphical objects which are operatively connected to one another through the anchor point, and displaying the representation of the graphical object including its child graphical objects on the display screen with said recalculated values.

5. The computer system of claim 4, further comprising a user interface, operatively coupled to the display screen, for dragging, in response to commands issued by a user, the graphically displayed representation of the graphical object, and for dropping, in response to commands issued by the user, the graphically displayed representation of the graphical object in a desired orientation during a non-runtime state.

6. The computer system of claim 5, further comprising means for storing the connection tree in the memory of the computer system.