Method and system for displaying data in a second display area

• US 6,433,799 B1
• Filed: 02/08/2001
• Issued: 08/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ostendo Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: xSides Corporation
• Inventors: Nason, D. David, Campbell, J. Scott, OʼRourke, Thomas C.
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US09/780,594
• Publication Number:
  US 20020080176A1
• Time in Patent Office: 551 Days
• Field of Search: 345/802, 345/790, 345/794, 345/767, 345/791-793, 345/768, 345/741-747, 345/748-749, 345/761, 707/10-11, 709/230, 348/565-568
• US Class Current: 715/802
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 1/16 the pattern of rectangular co-ordinates extending over the whole area of the screen, i.e. television type raster
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/08 Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

A method for creating and accessing a graphical user interface in the overscan area outside the area of the display normally visible to users of the common operating systems. This normal display area is generally known as the “desktop”. The desktop serves as the graphical user interface to the operating system. The desktop displays images representing documents and applications available to the user (icons). The desktop is restricted in the common environments to a predetermined set of resolutions (e.g., 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768) as defined by VGA and Super VGA standards. Displayable borders outside this area are the overscan.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system for displaying data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that is controlled by a computer operating system display interface and that occupies a portion of a first display area, the method comprising:

adjusting the display parameters of the video display system in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface to create a second display area by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interface is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system in conjunction with the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first display area is accessible by the computer operating system display interfice and wherein the created second display area is ignored by the computer operating system display interface.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the created second display area is outside of the first display area.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first display area is accessible by the computer operating system and wherein the created second display area is inaccessible by the computer operating system.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the created second display area is outside of the first display area.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the display parameters of the video display system adjust the resolution of the video display system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting the display parameters comprises manipulating video display registers that control retrace.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the parameters are control parameters for a controller of a cathode ray tube display.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the size of the first display area corresponds to a video mode defined in one or both of the standard DOS ROM BIOS or the VESA extensions to the DOS ROM BIOS.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting of the display parameters of the video display system to create a second display area further comprises:

determining whether the video display system has been set to a non-standard or a standard resolution;

when it is determined that the video display system has been set to a standard resolution,

adjusting the resolution of the video display system to include a second display area; and

modifying the retrace parameters of the video display system to accommodate the second display area.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the writing of the data to the second display area further comprises:

associating video display memory with the second display area;

writing the data to the associated memory; and

transferring the contents of the associated memory to the video display such that the data is displayed in the second display area.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the data is appears to be displayed continuously in the second display area.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the data displayed in the second display area may toggle to an invisible state.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the data is not obscured by any portion of the user interface controlled by the computer operating system display interface.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the data is a secondary user interface that is controlled independently of the computer operating system user interface.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the data is displayed alongside the user interface.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein a portion of the data that is displayed in the second display area includes a movable pointer which moves in relation to user input.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the pointer has an associated tip that is positioned outside of a cursor activation point associated with the tip, the cursor activation point located within the first display area while the pointer is displayed within the second display area.

19. The method of claim 1, the data comprising a displayable image, wherein the writing of the data to the second display area further comprises, after adjusting the display parameters to create a second display area, writing at least a portion of the image to a portion of the first display area such that the image appears to be displayed over at least a portion of the user interface.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting the parameters of the video display system is performed by function calls to driver software that communicates with the video display.

21. A method in a computer system for displaying data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that occupies a portion of a first display area, the first display area being accessible by a computer operating system display interface, the method comprising:

adjusting the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, to create a second display area that is ignored by and inaccssible to the computer operating system display interface, by reserving a portion of the display, whereby the computer operating system display interface is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system in conjunction with the user interface.

22. A method in a computer system for displaying data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that occupies a portion of a first display area, the first display area being accessible by a conmputeroperating system display interface, the method comprising:

adjusting the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, to create a second display area that is outside of the first display area, by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interce is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system along with the user interface.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the display of data in the second display area ig performed in a manner that is transparent to the operating system.

24. A method in a computer system for displaying an image on a display of a video display system in conjunction with the display of a user interface in a portion of a first display area of the video display system, the uscr interface controlled by a computer operating system display interface, comprsing:

in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, creating a second display area of the video display system by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interface is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing the image to the second display so that it cannot be obscured by the user interface.

25. The method of claim 24, the video display system having a primary display, wherein the creating of the second display area is performed using an application programming interface that creates a second virtual display surface on the primary display.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the application programming interface can be used to manipulate at least one of a display device driver and video display hardware.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the application programming interface is Microsoft'"'"'s DirectX.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein the creation of the second display area is performed using a virtual device driver.

29. The method of claim 24, the video display system having a video device driver, wherein the video device driver is modified to enable creation of the second display area and wherein the creation of the second display area is performed using the modified device driver.

30. The method of claim 24 wherein the second display area is created by adjusting the display resolution parameters of the video display system.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the adjustment manipulates control registers of a cathode ray tube display.

32. A method in a computer system for displaying non-obscured data on a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that is displayed in at least a portion of a first display area using a computer operating system display interface, the method comprising:

in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, using the CRTC registers of the computer system to create a visible display area that is outside of the first display area;

locating video memory;

associating the located video memory with the created visible display area;

writing the data to the associated video memory; and

transferring the video memory contents to the video display system such that the data displayed in the created visible display area is not obscured by the user interface.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the data displayed in the created visible display area is toggled to an invisible state.

34. A method in a computer system for creating a second display area on a display of a video display system, the second display area being independent of a first display area, the first display area displaying a user interface of a computer operating system, the second display area not controlled by the computer operating system, comprising, in a manner that bypasses a display interface of the computer operating system, adjusting the display parameters of the video display system to create the second display area by reserving a portion of the display.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the display parameters are CRTC registers and the resolution of the video display system is modified to create the second display area.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein the display parameters are modified using a virtual device driver.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising displaying in the second display area a second user interface that is controlled independently from the user interface displayed in the first display area.

38. The method of claim 34, further comprising associating a portion of video display memory with the second display area for writing data to the second display area.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising writing data to the associated portion of video display memory so that the data is displayed in the second display area.

40. A computcr-readable memory medium that contains instructions for controlling a computer processor to display data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that is controlled by a computer operating system display interface and that occupies a portion of a first display area, by:

adjusting the display parameters of the video display system in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface to create a second display area by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interface is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system in conjunction with the user interface.

41. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the first display area is accessible by the computer operating system display interface and wherein the created second display area is ignored by the computer operating system display interface.

42. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 41 wherein the created second display area is outside of the first display area.

43. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the first display area is accessible by the computer operating system and wherein the created second display area is inaccessible by the computer operating system.

44. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 43 wherein created second display area is outside of the first display area.

45. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the display parameters of the video display system adjust the resolution of the video display system.

46. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the adjusting the display parameters comprises manipulating video display registers that control retrace.

47. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the parameters are control parameters for a controller of a cathode ray tube display.

48. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the size of the first display area corresponds to a video mode defined in one or both of the standard DOS ROM BIOS or the VESA extensions to the DOS ROM BIOS.

49. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the adjusting of the display parameters of the video display system to create a second display area further comprises:

determining whether the video display system has been set to a non-standard or a standard resolution;

when it is determined that the video display system has been set to a standard resolution,

adjusting the resolution of the video display system to include a second display area; and

modifying the retrace parameters of the video display system to accommodate the second display area.

50. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the writing of the data to the second display area further comprises:

associating video display memory with the second display area;

writing the data to the associated memory; and

transferring the contents of the associated memory to the video display such that the data is displayed in the second display area.

51. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the data is appears to be displayed continuously in the second display area.

52. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the data displayed in the second display area may toggle to an invisible state.

53. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the data is not obscured by any portion of the user intertce controlled by the computer operating system display interface.

54. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the data is a secondary user interface that is controlled independently of the computer operating system user interface.

55. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the data is displayed alongside the user interface.

56. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein a portion of the data that is displayed in the second display area includes a movable pointer which moves in relation to user input.

57. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 56 wherein the pointer has an associated tip that is positioned outside of a cursor activation point associated with the tip, the cursor activation point_located within the first display area while the pointer is displayed within the second display area.

58. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40, the data comprising a displayable image, wherein the writing of the data to the second display area further comprises, after adjusting the display parameters to create a second display area, writing at least a portion of the image to a portion of the first display area such that the image appears to be displayed over at least a portion of the user interface.

59. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 40 wherein the adjusting the parameters of the video display system is performed by function calls to driver software that communicates with the video display.

60. A computer-readablc memory medium that contains instructions for controlling a computer processor to display data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interfce that occupies a portion of a first display area, the first display area being accessible by a computer operating system display interface, by:

adjusting the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, to create a second display area that is ignored by and inaccessible to the computer operating system display interfaces by reserving a portion of the display, whereby the computer operating system display interface is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system in conjunction with the user interface.

61. A computer-readable memory mnedium that contains instructions for controlling a computer processor to display data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that occupies a portion of a first display area, the first display area being accessible by a computer operating system display interface, by:

adjusting the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, to create a second display area that is outside of the first display area, by resrving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interfce is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system along with the user interface.

62. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 61 wherein the display of data in the second display area is performed in a manner that is transparent to the operating system.

63. A computer-readable memory medium that contains instructions for controlling a computer processor to display an image on a display of a video display system in conjunction with the display of a user interface in a portion of a first display area of the video display system, the user interface controlled by a computer operating system display interface, by:

in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display intertice, creating a second display area of the video display system by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interfce is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

writing the image to the second display so that it cannot be obscured by the user interface.

64. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 63, the video display system having a primary display, wherein the creating of the second display area is performed using an application programming interface that creates a second virtual display surface on the primary display.

65. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 64 wherein the application programming interface can be used to manipulate at least one of a display device driver and video display hardware.

66. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 64 wherein the application programming interface is Microsoft'"'"'s DirectX.

67. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 63 wherein the creation of the second display area is performed using a virtual device driver.

68. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 63, the video display system having a video device driver, wherein the video device driver is modified to enable creation of the second display area and wherein the creation of the second display area is performed using the modified device driver.

69. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 63 wherein the second display area is created by adjusting the display resolution parameters of the video display system.

70. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 69 wherein the adjustment manipulates control registers of a cathode ray tube display.

71. A computer-readable memory medium that contains instructions for controlling a computer processor to display non-obs data on a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that is displayed in at least a portion of a first display area using a computer operating system display interface, by:

in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, using the CRTC registers of the computer system to create a visible display area that is outside of the first display area;

locating video memory;

associating the located video memory with the created visible display area;

writing the data to the associated video memory; and

transferring the video memory contents to the video display system such that the data displayed in the created visible display area is not obscured by the user interfere.

72. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 71 wherein the data displayed in the created visible display area is toggled to an invisible state.

73. A computer-readable memory medium that contains instructions for controlling a computer processor to create a second display area on a display of a video display systemn, the second display area being independent of a first display area, the first display area displaying a user interfitce of a computer operating system, the second display area not controlled by the computer operating system, comprsing, in a manner that bypassed a display interface of the computer operating system, adjusting the display parameters of the video display system to create the second display area by reserving a portion of the display.

74. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 73 where in the display parameters are CRTC registers and the resolution of the video display system is modified to create the second display area.

75. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 73 wherein the display parameters are modified using a virtual device driver.

76. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 73, further comprising displaying in the second display area a second user interface that is controlled independently from the user interface displayed in the first display area.

77. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 73, further comprising associating a portion of video display memory with the second display area for writing data to the second display area.

78. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 77, further comprising writing data to the associated portion of video display memory so that the data is displayed in the second display area.

79. A system for displaying data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that is controlled by a computer operating system display interface and that occupies a portion of a first display area, comprising:

a display parameter adjustment mechanism that adjusts the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, to create a second display area by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display interface inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interice is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

a data writing mechanism that enables data to be written to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system in conjunction with the user interface.

80. The system of claim 79 wherein the first display area is accessible by the computer operating system display interface and wherein the created second display area is ignored by the computer operating system display interface.

81. The system of claim 80 wherein the created second display area is outside of the first display area.

82. The system of claim 79 wherein the first display area is accessible by the computer operating system and wherein the created second display area is inaccessible by the computer operating system.

83. The system of claim 82 wherein the created second display area is outside of the first display area.

84. The system of claim 79 wherein the display parameters of the video display system adjust the resolution of the video display system.

85. The system of claim 79 wherein the display parameter adjustment mechanism manipulates video display registers that control retrace.

86. The system of claim 79 wherein the parameters are control parameters for a controller of a cathode ray tube display.

87. The system of claim 79 wherein the size of the first display area corresponds to a video mode defined in one or both of the standard DOS ROM BIOS or the VESA extensions to the DOS ROM BIOS.

88. The system of claim 79 wherein the display adjustment parameter mechanism creates a second display area by:

determining whether the video display system has been set to a non-standard or a standard resolution;

when it is determined that the video display system has been set to a standard resolution,

adjusting the resolution of the video display system to include a second display area; and

modifying the retrace parameters of the video display system to accommodate the second display area.

89. The system of claim 79 wherein the data writing mechanism writes data to the second display area by:

associating video display memory with the second display area;

writing the data to the associated memory; and

transferring the contents of the associated memory to the video display such that the data is displayed in the second display area.

90. The system of claim 79 wherein the data is appears to be displayed continuously in the second display area.

91. The system of claim 79 wherein the data displayed in the second display area may toggle to an invisible state.

92. The system of claim 79 wherein the data is not obscured by any portion of the user interface controlled by the computer operating system display interface.

93. The system of claim 79 wherein the data is a secondary user interface that is controlled independently of the computer operating system user interface.

94. The system of claim 79 wherein the data is displayed alongside the user interface.

95. The system of claim 79 wherein a portion of the data that is displayed in the second display area includes a movable pointer which moves in relation to user input.

96. The system of claim 95 wherein the pointer has an associated tip that is positioned outside of a cursor activation point associated with the tip, the cursor activation point located within the first display area while the pointer is displayed within the second display area.

97. The system of claim 79, the data comprising a displayable image, wherein the data writing mechanism writes the data to the second display area by, after adjusting the display parameters to create a second display area, writing at least a portion of the image to a portion of the first display area such that the image appears to be displayed over at least a portion of the user interface.

98. The system of claim 79 wherein the display parameter adjustment mechanism adjusts the parameters of the video display system through function calls to driver software that communicates with the video display.

99. A system for displaying data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that occupies a portion of a first display area, the first display area being accessible by a computer operating system display interface, the system comprising:

a display parameter adjustment fiwility that adjusts the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, to create a second display area that is ignored by and inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, by reserving a portion of the display, whereas the computer operating system display interface is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

a data writing mechanism that writes data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system in conjunction with the user interface.

100. A system for displaying data on a display of a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that occupies a portion of a first display area, the first display area being accessible by a computer operating system display interface, the system comprising:

a display parameter adjustment facility that adjusts the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses the computer operating system display interface, to create a second display area that is outside of the first display area, by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereas the computer operating System display interfacc is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

a data writing mechanism that writes data to the second display area so that it is displayed on the video display system along with the user interface.

101. The system of claim 100 wherein the display of data in the second display area is performed in a manner that is transparent to the operating system.

102. A system for displaying an image on a display of a video display system in conjunction with the display of a user interface in a portion of a first display area of the video display system, the user interface controlled by a computer operating system display interface, comprising:

a display creation mechanism that bypasses the computer operating system to create a second display area of the video display system by reserving a portion of the display to make the second display area inaccessible to the computer operating system display interface, whereby the computer operating system display interface is prevented from affecting the second display area; and

a data writing mechanism that writes the image to the second display so that it cannot be obscured by the user interface.

103. The system of claim 102, the video display system having a primary display, wherein the creating of the second display area is performed using an application programming interface that creates a second virtual display surface on the primary display.

104. The system of claim 103 wherein the application programming interface is used to manipulate at least one of a display device driver and video display hardware.

105. The system of claim 103 wherein the application programming interface is Microsoft'"'"'s DirectX.

106. The system of claim 102 wherein the creation of the second display area is performed using a virtual device driver.

107. The system of claim 102, the video display system having a video device driver, wherein the video device driver is modified to enable creation of the second display area and wherein the creation of the second display area is performed using the modified device driver.

108. The system of claim 102 wherein the second display area is created by adjusting the display resolution parameters of the video display system.

109. The system of claim 108 wherein the adjustment manipulates control registers of a cathode ray tube display.

110. A computer system for displaying nonobscured data on a video display system in conjunction with a user interface that is displayed in at least a portion of a first display area using a computer operating system display interace, the system comprising:

a display area creation facility that bypasses the computer operating system display interface to use the CRTC registers of the computer system to create a visible display area that is outside of the first display area;

a video memory association mechanism that

locates video memory; and

associates the located video memory with the created visible display area; and

a data writing mechanism that

writes the data to the associated video memory; and

transfer the video memory contents to the video display system such that the data displayed in the created visible display area is not obscured by the user interface.

111. The system of claim 110 wherein the data displayed in the created visible display area is toggled to an invisible state.

113. The system of claim 110 wherein the display parameters are CRTC registers and the resolution of the video display system is modified to create the second display area.

114. The system of claim 110 wherein the display parameters are modified using a virtual device driver.

115. The system of claim 110, further comprising a user interface display mechanism that displays in the second display area a second user interface that is controlled independently from the user interface displayed in the first display area.

116. The system of claim 110, further comprising a display association mechanism that associates a portion of video display memory with the second display area for writing data to the second display area.

117. The system of claim 116, further comprising a data writing mechanism that writes data to the associated portion of video display memory so that the data is displayed in the second display area.

112. A system for creating a second display area on a display of a video display system, the second display area being independent of a first display area, the first display area displaying a user interface of a computer operating system, the second display area not controlled by the computer operating system, comprising a display area creation facility that adjusts the display parameters of the video display system, in a manner that bypasses a display interface of the computer operating system, to create the second display area.