Methods for identifying cells in a path in a flowchart and for synchronizing graphical and textual views of a flowchart

• US 7,310,784 B1
• Filed: 01/02/2002
• Issued: 12/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Jellyvision Lab, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The Jellyvision Lab, Inc.
• Inventors: Gottlieb, Harry N., Franklin, Mari H., Franklin, Lukass R., Barhorst, Jeffrey A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Sy
• Assistant Examiner(s): PITARO, RYAN F
• Application Number:
  US10/038,527
• Time in Patent Office: 2,176 Days
• Field of Search: 717/102, 715/763, 715/771, 715/853, 715/854
• US Class Current: 715/853
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

The preferred embodiments described herein provide methods for identifying cells in a path in a flowchart and for synchronizing graphical and textual views of a flowchart. In one preferred embodiment, a method for identifying cells in a path in a flowchart is provided comprising the acts of displaying a flowchart comprising a plurality of cells, selecting a cell in the flowchart, determining a path comprising the selected cell, and identifying at least some of the cells in the path. In another preferred embodiment, a method for synchronizing graphical and textual views of a flowchart is provided. This method comprises the acts of displaying a graphical view of a flowchart comprising a plurality of cells in a first display region, displaying a textual view of at least some cells in the flowchart in a second display region, and in response to input received in either the first or second display regions, applying the input to both the first and second display regions. Other preferred embodiments are provided, and each of the preferred embodiments can be used alone or in combination with one another.

Claims

1. A method executed by a processor for identifying cells in a path in a flowchart, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a flowchart comprising a plurality of cells, wherein at least some of the cells in the flowchart comprise instructions that are implemented by an application to provide an interactive multimedia presentation, wherein at least one of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, wherein timing information specifies when the piece of media is to be played during the interactive multimedia presentation, and wherein at least one other of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to gather user input during the interactive multimedia presentation;

(b) receiving, from a user, a selection of a single cell in the flowchart;

(c) determining a path comprising the selected single cell;

(d) identifying, to the user, at least four cells in the path in a way that distinguishes the at least four cells in the path from at least some of the other cells in the flowchart that are not in the path, wherein the way in which the at least four cells in the path are distinguished is by displaying the at least four cells differently from all of the other cells in the flowchart; and

(e) for at least one of the plurality of cells that comprise an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, displaying at least one of the following;

a description of video that will be displayed when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation and a description of audio that will be played when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) comprises determining a last selected path comprising the selected cell.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) comprises determining a most-frequently selected path comprising the selected cell.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) comprises randomly determining a path comprising the selected cell.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) comprises semi-randomly determining a path comprising the selected cell.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the flowchart comprises a beginning cell and an end cell, and wherein the path determined in (c) comprises the beginning and end cells.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the flowchart comprises a beginning cell and an end cell, and wherein the path determined in (c) does not comprise at least one of the beginning and end cells.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the path determined in (c) comprises at least one of a beginning cell and an end cell, and wherein the at least four cells identified in (d) comprise the at least one of the beginning and end cells.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the path determined in (c) comprises at least one of a beginning cell and an end cell, and wherein the at least four cells identified in (d) do not comprise the at least one of the beginning and end cells.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the flowchart is displayed in a first display region, and wherein the at least four cells are identified in (d) by displaying a textual view of the at least four cells in a second display region.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the flowchart is displayed in a first display region, and wherein the at least four cells are identified in (d) by displaying a copy of the at least four cells in a second display region.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein (d) comprises identifying four cells in the path.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein (d) comprises identifying all of the cells in the path.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least four cells are identified in (d) by highlighting the at least four cells in the flowchart.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least four cells are identified in (d) by enlarging the at least four cells in the flowchart.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least four cells are identified in (d) by enlarging the at least four cells in the flowchart and reducing the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least four cells are identified in (d) by enlarging and aligning the at least four cells in the flowchart.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting at least one additional cell in the flowchart, and wherein (c) comprises determining a path comprising the selected cell and the at least one additional cell.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the selected cell comprises a master cell, and wherein (c) comprises determining a path between the master cell and the at least one additional cell.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining N additional path(s) comprising the selected cell; and

identifying at least some of the cells in each of the N additional path(s).

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first-mentioned path and the N additional path(s) comprise the last N+1 selected paths comprising the selected cell.

22. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(e) selecting an additional cell in the flowchart;

(f) determining a path comprising the selected additional cell; and

(g) identifying at least some of the cells in the path determined in (f) along with the at least four cells in the path determined in (c).

23. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) comprises determining a plurality of paths comprising the selected cell, wherein the invention further comprises selecting one of the plurality of determined paths, and wherein (d) comprises identifying at least four cells in the selected one of the plurality of determined paths.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the plurality of paths comprises every path comprising the selected cell.

25. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a textual view of cells that fan-in and fan-out of the selected cell.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to process data.

27. The method of claim 1 further comprising playing the flowchart, wherein the cell selected in (b) comprises a cell selected by a user during the playing of the flowchart, and wherein the path determined in (c) comprises the path that was traversed during the playing of the flowchart.

49. The method of claim 1, wherein the application that implements the instructions is the same application that performs (a)-(d).

50. The method of claim 1, wherein the application that implements the instructions is different from an application that performs (a)-(d).

59. The method of claim 1, wherein (b)-(d) are performed other than when the flowchart is played.

28. A method executed by a processor for identifying cells in a path in a flowchart, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a flowchart comprising a plurality of cells, wherein the plurality of cells define a plurality of paths, wherein at least some of the cells in the flowchart comprise instructions that are implemented by an application to provide an interactive multimedia presentation, wherein at least one of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, wherein timing information specifies when the piece of media is to be played during the interactive multimedia presentation, and wherein at least one other of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to gather user input during the interactive multimedia presentation;

(b) receiving, from a user, a selection of a single cell in the flowchart;

(c) in response to the selection of the single cell in the flowchart, determining a path comprising the single cell;

(d) identifying, to the user, at least four cells in the path determined in (c) in a way that distinguishes the at least four cells in the path from at least some of the other cells in the flowchart that are not in the path, wherein the way in which the at least four cells are distinguished is by displaying the at least four cells differently from the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart; and

(e) for at least one of the plurality of cells that comprise an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, displaying at least one of the following;

a description of video that will be displayed when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation and a description of audio that will be played when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the user selects the single cell by positioning a pointer over the single cell.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the path is determined in (c) based on the history of the single cell and the history of cells above and below it, if any, in succession.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein (c) comprises, starting with the single cell being a given cell:

(c1) determining which cell directly connected to the given cell was in a determined path the last time the given cell was in a determined path; and

(c2) repeating (c1) with the given cell being the cell determined in (c1).

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the flowchart is displayed in a first display region, and wherein the at least four cells are identified to the user in (d) by displaying a textual view of the at least four cells, but not of the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart, in a second display region.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein the flowchart is displayed in a first display region, and wherein the at least four cells are identified to the user in (d) by displaying a copy of the at least four cells, but not of the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart, in a second display region.

51. The method of claim 28, wherein the application that implements the instructions is the same application that performs (a)-(d).

52. The method of claim 28, wherein the application that implements the instructions is different from an application that performs (a)-(d).

60. The method of claim 28, wherein (b)-(d) are performed other than when the flowchart is played.

34. A method executed by a processor for identifying cells in a path in a flowchart, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a flowchart comprising a plurality of cells, wherein the plurality of cells define a plurality of paths, wherein at least some of the cells in the flowchart comprise instructions that are implemented by an application to provide an interactive multimedia presentation, wherein at least one of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, wherein timing information specifies when the piece of media is to be played during the interactive multimedia presentation, and wherein at least one other of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to gather user input during the interactive multimedia presentation;

(b) receiving, from a user, a selection of a single cell in the flowchart;

(c) determining a path comprising the selected single cell based on the history of the selected cell and the history of cells above and below it, if any, in succession;

(d) identifying, to the user, at least four cells in the path determined in (c) in a way that distinguishes the at least some of the cells in the path from at least some of the other cells in the flowchart that are not in the path, wherein the way in which the at least four cells are distinguished is by displaying the at least four cells differently from the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart; and

(e) for at least one of the plurality of cells that comprise an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, displaying at least one of the following;

a description of video that will be displayed when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation and a description of audio that will be played when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein (c) comprises, starting with the selected cell being a given cell:

(c1) determining which cell directly connected to the given cell was in a determined path the last time the given cell was in a determined path; and

(c2) repeating (c1) with the given cell being the cell determined in (c1).

36. The method of claim 34, wherein (b) comprises positioning a pointer over the cell.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the flowchart is displayed in a first display region, and wherein the at least four cells are identified to the user in (d) by displaying a textual view of the at least four cells, but not of the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart, in a second display region.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein the flowchart is displayed in a first display region, and wherein the at least four cells are identified to the user in (d) by displaying a copy of the at least four cells, but not of the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart, in a second display region.

53. The method of claim 34, wherein the application that implements the instructions is the same application that performs (a)-(d).

54. The method of claim 34, wherein the application that implements the instructions is different from an application that performs (a)-(d).

61. The method of claim 34, wherein (b)-(d) are performed other than when the flowchart is played.

39. A method executed by a processor for identifying cells in a path in a flowchart, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a flowchart in a first display region, wherein the flowchart comprises a plurality of cells defining a plurality of paths, wherein at least some of the cells in the flowchart comprise instructions that are implemented by an application to provide an interactive multimedia presentation, wherein at least one of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, wherein timing information specifies when the piece of media is to be played during the interactive multimedia presentation, and wherein at least one other of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to gather user input during the interactive multimedia presentation;

(b) receiving, from a user, a selection of a single cell in the flowchart;

(c) determining a path comprising the selected single cell; and

(d) identifying, to the user, at least some of the cells in the path by displaying a textual view of the at least some of the cells in the path, but not of at least some of the other cells in the flowchart that are not in the path, in a second display region, whereby the at least some of the cells in the path are identified in a way that distinguishes the at least some of the cells in the path from the at least some of the other cells in the flowchart that are not in the path, wherein, for at least one of the plurality of cells that comprise an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, the textual view provides at least one of the following;

a description of video that will be displayed when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation and a description of audio that will be played when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein (b) comprises positioning a pointer over the cell.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the path is determined in (c) based on the history of the selected cell and the history of cells above and below it, if any, in succession.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein (c) comprises, starting with the selected cell being a given cell:

(c1) determining which cell directly connected to the given cell was in a determined path the last time the given cell was in a determined path; and

(c2) repeating (c1) with the given cell being the cell determined in (c1).

55. The method of claim 39, wherein the application that implements the instructions is the same application that performs (a)-(d).

56. The method of claim 39, wherein the application that implements the instructions is different from an application that performs (a)-(d).

62. The method of claim 39, wherein (b)-(d) are performed other than when the flowchart is played.

43. A method executed by a processor for building a flowchart along a single path, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a flowchart in a first display region, wherein the flowchart comprises a plurality of cells defining a plurality of paths, wherein at least some of the cells in the flowchart comprise instructions that are implemented by an application to provide an interactive multimedia presentation, wherein at least one of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, wherein timing information specifies when the piece of media is to be played during the interactive multimedia presentation, and wherein at least one other of the plurality of cells comprises an instruction to gather user input during the interactive multimedia presentation;

(b) simultaneously displaying a textual view of at least some of the cells along a single path in the flowchart in a second display region and receiving input from a user in the second display region, wherein, for at least one of the plurality of cells that comprise an instruction to trigger a piece of media during the interactive multimedia presentation, the textual view provides at least one of the following;

a description of video that will be displayed when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation and a description of audio that will be played when the piece of media is played during the interactive multimedia presentation, wherein a textual view of cells not along the single path in the flowchart is not displayed in the second display region, whereby the input is received in the second display region while the second display region displays the textual view of the at least some of the cells along the single path in the flowchart; and

(c) in response to the input received in (b) in the second display region, applying the input to the first display region, wherein if the input comprises an addition of a new cell in the second display region, a new cell in the flowchart in the first display region is created, and wherein if the input comprises a modification of existing text in the second display region, a corresponding existing cell in the flowchart in the first display region is modified.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein (c) comprises in response to adding new text in the second display region, creating a new cell in the flowchart in the first display region.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein (c) comprises in response to deleting existing text in the second display region, deleting a corresponding existing cell in the flowchart in the first display region.

46. The method of claim 43 further comprising determining the single path in response to receiving, from a user, a selection of a single cell in the flowchart.

47. The method of claim 43 further comprising determining the single path based on the history of a selected cell and the history of cells above and below it, if any, in succession.

48. The method of claim 43 further comprising determining the single path by, starting with a selected cell being a given cell:

(i) determining which cell directly connected to the given cell was in a determined path the last time the given cell was in a determined path; and

(ii) repeating (i) with the given cell being the cell determined in (i).

57. The method of claim 43, wherein the application that implements the instructions is the same application that performs (a)-(c).

58. The method of claim 43, wherein the application that implements the instructions is different from an application that performs (a)-(c).

63. The method of claim 43, wherein (a)-(c) are performed other than when the flowchart is played.