Dynamically specifying invocations in compiled objects

• US 6,441,833 B1
• Filed: 10/29/1996
• Issued: 08/27/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Blewett, Charles Douglas, Anderson, John Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): dela Torre, Crescelle N.
• Application Number:
  US08/741,419
• Time in Patent Office: 2,128 Days
• Field of Search: 395/333, 395/334, 395/335, 395/339, 395/340, 395/342, 395/346, 395/348, 395/683, 395/685, 345/333, 345/334, 345/335, 345/339, 345/340, 345/342, 345/346, 345/348, 345/700, 345/744, 345/764, 345/762, 345/765, 345/781, 345/788, 345/804, 345/835, 709/315, 709/331, 709/332
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4484 Executing subprograms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/449 Object-oriented method invocation or resolution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131

Abstract

Apparatus for specifying invocations in compiled objects at runtime. One species of the apparatus is a drawing widget for use in the X Window System. The drawing widget permits users to specify elements in the window corresponding to the widget by providing a sequence of invocations of X Window graphics functions to the widget at runtime. A resource in the drawing widget is set to the sequence of invocations and when the corresponding window is exposed, the invocations in the sequence are executed to produce the elements in the window. The sequence of function invocations may include invocations for functions which add or remove elements from the window and which translate, rotate, or scale elements. Other features include the use of unit coordinates in the invocation and the use of hashing to reduce the character-string invocations provided in the sequence to representations made up of small integer, pointer, and floating-point data.

Claims

1. A widget contained in memory means usable in a computer system that is implementing a windowing system, the widget representing a window displayed in the windowing system and the widget comprising:

means which when executed in the computer system at runtime set a resource of the widget to one or more invocations of arbitrary functions of a set thereof; and

means which when executed in the computer system in response to a change in the widget employ the invocation to execute a function of the set of arbitrary functions specified in the invocation.

2. The widget set forth in claim 1 wherein:

the functions include primitive functions provided by the windowing system.

3. The widget set forth in claim 1 wherein:

the functions include at least one function which modifies the invocations to which the resource is set.

4. The widget set forth in claim 3 wherein:

the at least one function modifies the number of invocations to which the resource is set.

5. The widget set forth in claim 3 wherein:

the at least one function modifies an argument in an invocation to which the resource is set.

6. The widget set forth in any of claims 2, 3, 4, or 5 wherein:

the functions include graphics primitive functions; and

the mean which employ the invocation executes any graphics primitive function specified by the invocation when the window is exposed.

7. The widget set forth in any of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 wherein:

the means which set the resource orders the invocations to which the resource is set; and

the means which employ the invocation executes the invocations to which the resource is set as ordered.

8. The widget set forth in any of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 wherein:

the one or more invocations include character string data;

the means which set the resource further includes means for translating the character string data into data of another type; and

the invocations to which the resource is set include the data of the other type in place of the character string data.

9. The widget set forth in claim 1 wherein:

the functions include graphics primitive functions provided by the windowing system.

10. The widget set forth in claim 9 wherein:

the invocations of the graphics primitive functions include arguments specifying coordinates according to a first system; and

the means which employ the invocation includes means for changing the arguments so that the arguments specify coordinates according to a second system required for the graphics primitive functions.

11. The widget set forth in claim 9 wherein:

the functions include transformation functions; and

the means which employ the invocation includes means for transforming the arguments in the invocations of the graphics primitive functions, the means for transforming being responsive to the transformation functions.

12. The widget set forth in claim 11 wherein:

the transformation functions include a rotation function, a translation function, and a scaling function.

13. The widget set forth in claim 11 wherein:

the invocations of the graphics primitive functions include arguments specifying coordinates according to a first system; and

the means for transforming includes means for changing the arguments so that the arguments specify coordinates according to a second system required for the graphics primitive functions.

14. The widget set forth in claim 11 wherein:

the means for transforming is further responsive to any resizing of the window.

15. The widget set forth in claim 9 wherein:

the means which employ the invocation includes means responsive to any resizing of the window for transforming the arguments in the invocations of the graphics primitive functions as required by the resizing.

16. The widget set forth in claim 9 wherein:

the window includes one or more graphical elements;

the functions include a function for establishing a graphical element; and

the means which set a resource responds to an invocation of the function for establishing a graphical element by relating the invocations of the graphics primitive functions necessary to create the element to the element.

17. The widget set forth in claim 16 wherein:

the means which set a resource relates the invocations of the graphics primitive functions to the element by creating a data item for the element in response to the function for establishing a graphical element, creating a data item for each invocation of a graphics primitive function needed to create the element, and relating the data items for the invocations of the graphics primitive function to the data item for the element.

18. A compiled object contained in memory means usable in a computer system that is implementing a system which uses the compiled object and the compiled object comprising:

means which when executed in the computer system receive one or more invocations of functions in the object at runtime, the functions being accessible to the computer system, and storing the one or more invocations in storage means accessible to the computer system; and

means which when executed by the computer system employ the stored invocations to execute one or more of the functions as required for operation of the object.

19. The object set forth in claim 18 wherein:

the functions include at least one function provided by an environment in which the object is used.

20. The object set forth in claim 18 wherein:

the functions include at least one function which modifies the stored invocations.

21. The object set forth in claim 20 wherein:

the at least one function modifies the stored invocations by modifying the number of stored invocations.

22. The object set forth in claim 20 wherein:

the at least one function modifies the stored invocations by modifying an argument in at least one of the stored invocations.

23. The object set forth in any of claims 18 through 22 wherein:

the means which receive the one or more invocations orders the invocations in the stored invocations; and

the means which employ the stored invocations executes the stored invocations as ordered.

24. The object set forth in any of claims 18 through 22 wherein:

the one or more invocations received by the means for receiving include character string data;

the means which receive further includes means for translating the character string data into data of another type; and

the stored invocations include the data of the other type in place of the character string data.

25. A drawing widget contained in memory means usable in a computer system that is implementing an X Window System, the drawing widget representing a window in the X Window System that contains one or more graphics elements, the drawing widget being characterized by:

a set values method which when executed in the computer system sets a resource of the widget to one or more invocations of functions accessible to the computer system, the functions belonging to a set thereof including at least an XLIB graphics function; and

an expose method which when executed by the computer system produces the element in the window by employing the one or more invocations in the resource to execute functions from the set thereof.