Interactive method of developing software interfaces

• US 5,041,992 A
• Filed: 10/24/1988
• Issued: 08/20/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning A Non-Profit Corporation of PA
• Original Assignee: University Of Pittsburgh (University of Pittsburgh of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education)
• Inventors: Cunningham, Robert E., Corbett, John D., Bonar, Jeffery G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Clark, David L.
• Application Number:
  US07/261,770
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: 364/200 MS File, 364/900 MS File, 364/300 MS File, 364/146, 364/147, 364/518, 364/521, 364/188-193, 340/709, 340/721, 340/747
• US Class Current: 345/641
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

A system and method for interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements. A computer has display and stored tasks wherein the appearance of graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined. Each graphic element is defined by at least one figure specification, one mask specification and one map specification. An interactive display editor program defines specifications of said graphic elements. An interactive program editor program defines programming data and methods associated with said graphic elements. A display program uses the figure, map and mask specifications for assembling graphic elements upon the display and enabling user manipulation of said graphic elements.

Claims

1. A system for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements, comprising

a) a computer having a display and stored tasks wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined, each said graphic element being defined by at least one figure specification defining the appearance of said graphic element and at least one other type specification defining one or more areal properties of one or more portions of said graphic element,

b) an interactive display editor program for defining the figure specification and said other type specifications of said graphic elements,

c) an interactive program editor program for programming data and said methods associated with said graphic elements, and

d) program means using the figure specification and said other type specifications for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and enabling user manipulation of said graphic elements.

2. Systems according to claim 1 wherein said display editor has means for copying said figure specification and said other type specifications to form copied specifications and for modifying said copied specifications for creating additional other type specifications.

3. A system for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements, comprising

a) a computer having a bit mapped display and stored tasks comprising an object oriented programming environment wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined by display objects, each said display object comprising at least one bit mapped figure specification instance variable defining the appearance of said display object and at least one other bit mapped type specification instance variable defining one or more areal properties of one or more portions of said display object,

b) an interactive display editor program for defining said bit mapped figure specification instance variables and said other bit mapped type specification instance variables of said display objects,

c) an interactive program editor program for programming data and said methods associated with said display objects and other objects of said programming environment, and

d) program means using said bit mapped figure specification instance variables and said other bit mapped type specification instance variables for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and enabling user manipulation of said graphic elements.

7. Systems according to any one of claims 3 to 6 wherein said display editor has means for creating multiple sets of bit mapped specification instance variables associated with a given display object which sets of specification instance variables are selectable by messages sent to the display object.

8. Systems according to any one of claims 3 to 6 wherein said display editor has means for copying said bit mapped specification instance variables to yield copied specification instance variables and modifying said copied specification instance variables for creating additional bit mapped type specification instance variables.

4. A system for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements, comprising

a) a computer having a bit mapped display and stored tasks comprising an object oriented programming environment wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined by display objects, each said display object comprising at least one bit mapped figure specification instance variable defining the appearance of said display object and at least one bit mapped mask specification instance variable,

b) an interactive display editor program for defining said bit mapped figure specification instance variables and said bit mapped mask specification instance variables of said display objects,

c) an interactive program editor program for programming data and said methods associated with said display objects and other objects of said programming environment, and

d) program means using said bit mapped figure specification instance variable and said bit mapped mask specification instance variables for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and enabling manipulation of said graphic elements,

said mask specification instance variables defining nontransparent portions of said graphic elements, said display editor program having means for establishing and maintaining a list defining occlusion priorities of said graphic elements, said program means for assembling said graphic elements upon the display comprising means for defining one or more collections of overlaid graphic elements, each of said collections being formed by moving one or more of said graphic elements to a position in which said moved graphic elements geometrically overlap one or more other of said graphic elements to create overlaid portions and a second program means for controlling the display such that said nontransparent portions of said graphic elements of each said collection having higher occlusion priorities mask all said overlaid portions of graphic elements having lower occlusion priorities.

5. A system for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements displayed upon a computer display, comprising

a) a computer having a bit mapped display, a mouse for input, said mouse having one or more mouse buttons, a keyboard input capability and stored tasks comprising an object oriented programming environment wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined by display objects, said display object comprising at least one bit mapped figure specification instance variable defining the appearance of said display object and at least one bit mapped map specification instance variable,

b) an interactive display editor program for defining said bit mapped figure specification instance variables and said bit mapped map specification instance variables of said display objects,

c) an interactive program editor program for programming data and said methods associated with said display objects and other objects of said programming environment, and

d) program means using said bit mapped figure specification instance variables for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and for displaying a mouse cursor within said display,

said map specification instance variables defining mouse sensitive portions of said graphic element as a tagged list or list tree of bit maps, said program editor program having means for defining one or more of said methods to be activated when the mouse is used to bring the mouse cursor over said mouse sensitive areas of said graphic element and one of said mouse buttons has been pushed while the mouse cursor is within a mouse sensitive area.

6. A system for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements displayed upon a computer display, comprising

a) a computer having a bit mapped display, a mouse input, said mouse having one or more mouse buttons, a keyboard input capability and stored tasks comprising an object oriented programming environment allowing messages to be exchanged between objects and wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined by display objects, each said display object comprising at least one bit mapped figure specification instance variable defining the appearance of said display object, at least one bit mapped mask specification instance variable and at least one bit mapped map specification instance variable,

b) a display editor program for defining said bit mapped figure, mask and map specification instance variables of said display objects,

c) a program editor program for programming data and said methods assigned to said display objects and other objects of said programming environment, and

d) a program means using said bit mapped figure, mask and map specification instance variables for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and for displaying a mouse cursor within said display,

said mask specification instance variables defining nontransparent portions of said graphic element, said display editor program or said program editor program having means for assigning occlusion priorities to each said graphic element, said program means further having means for defining one or more collections of overlaid graphic elements, each of said collections being formed by moving one or more of said graphic elements to a position in which said moved graphic elements geometrically overlap one or more other of said graphic elements to create overlaid portions, and a second program means for controlling the display such that said nontransparent portions of said graphic elements of each said collection having higher occlusion priorities mask all said overlaid portions of graphic elements having lower occlusion priorities, said map specifications defining mouse sensitive portions of at least one said graphic element, said program editor having means for defining one or more of said methods or messages to be activated when the mouse is used to bring the mouse cursor over said mouse sensitive areas of said graphic element and one of said mouse buttons is pushed.

9. A computer assisted process for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements displayed on a computer display, said method requiring a computer having tasks wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined, each said graphic element bring defined by at least one figure specification defining the appearance of said graphic element and at least one other type specification defining one or more areal properties of one or more portions of said graphic element, an interactive display editor program for defining the figure specification and said other type specifications of said graphic elements, a program editor program for programming data and said methods associated with said graphic elements, and a program means for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and enabling the manipulation of said graphic elements, comprising the steps of

a) using the display editor program to interactively define said figure specification of a new graphic element, and

b) using the display editor program to interactively define at least one of said other type specifications of said new graphic element.

10. A process according to claim 9 wherein figure specifications are copied and modified to define specifications of new display objects.

11. A computer assisted process for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements displayed upon a computer display, said method requiring a computer having an object oriented programming environment wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined, each said graphic element being defined by display objects, each said display object comprising at least one bit mapped figure specification instance variable defining the appearance of said graphic element and at least one other bit mapped type specification instance variable defining one or more areal properties of one or more portions of said graphic element, an interactive display editor program for defining the figure specification instance variables and said other bit mapped type specification instance variables of said display objects, a program editor program for programming data and said methods assigned to said display objects and other objects of said programming environment, and a program means for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and enabling the manipulation of said graphic elements, comprising the steps of

a) using the display editor program to interactively define the bit mapped figure specification instance variables of a new graphic element, the data for which figure specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element, and

b) using the display editor program to interactively define at least one other bit mapped type specification instance variables of said new graphic element, the data for which other type specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element.

16. A process according to any one of claims 11 to 15 wherein each display object may have multiple sets of figure specification instance variables associated therewith, said sets being selectable by messages sent to the display object.

17. A process according to any one of claims 11 to 15 wherein sets of figure specification instance variables are copied and modified to define specification instance variables of new display objects.

12. A computer assisted process for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements displayed upon a computer display, said method requiring a computer having a bit mapped display and an object oriented programming environment wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined by display objects, each said display object comprising at least one bit mapped figure specification instance variable defining the appearance of said graphic element and at least bit mapped mask specification instance variable defining nontransparent portions of said graphic element, an interactive display editor program for defining the bit mapped figure and mask specification instance variables of said display objects, a program editor program for programming data and said methods assigned to said display objects and other objects of said programming environment, and a display program means, said display program means supporting windows, for assembling said graphic elements upon the display and enabling the interactive positioning and repositioning of said graphic elements at locations within one or more of said windows, comprising the steps of

a) using the display editor program to interactively define the bit mapped figure specification instance variables of a new graphic element, the data for which figure specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element,

b) using the display editor program to interactively define the bit mapped mask specification instance variables defining transparent and nontransparent portions of said new graphic element, the data for which map specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element,

c) repeating steps a) and b) one or more times to define a plurality of display objects, and

d) using either the display editor program or the program editor program for assigning occlusion priorities to each display object such that when the display program means is invoked to move one or more of said new graphic elements to a position in which said moved graphic elements geometrically overlap one or more of other said graphic elements to created overlaid portions, said nontransparent portions of said graphic elements having higher occlusion priorities mask all said overlaid portions of graphic elements having lower occlusion priorities.

13. A computer assisted process for the interactive design for user manipulable graphic elements displayed upon a computer display, said method requiring a computer having a bit mapped display, a mouse for input, said mouse having one or more mouse buttons, a keyboard input capability and an object oriented programming environment allowing messages to be exchanged between objects and wherein the appearance of said graphic elements and methods for their manipulation are defined by display objects, each said display object comprising at least one bit mapped figure specification instance variable defining the appearance of said graphic element and at least one other bit mapped type specification instance variable defining one or more areal properties of one or more portions of said graphic element, an interactive display editor program for defining the bit mapped figure specification instance variables and said other bit mapped type specification instance variables of said display objects, a program editor program for programming data and said methods assigned to said display objects and other objects of said programming environment, and a display program means for assembling graphic elements upon the display and displaying a mouse cursor, comprising the steps of

a) using the display editor program to interactively define the bit mapped figure specification instance variables of a new graphic element, the data for which figure specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said graphic element,

b) using the display editor program and the program editor program to interactively define the bit mapped map specification instance variables defining mouse sensitive portions of at least one said new graphic element, the data for which map specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said graphic element, and

c) using the program editor program to define one or more of said methods or messages to be activated when the mouse is used to bring the mouse cursor over said mouse sensitive areas of said graphic element and one of said mouse buttons is pushed.

14. A computer assisted process for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements displayed upon a bit mapped computer display, said graphic elements being comprised of at least bit mapped figure specification instance variables defining the appearance of said graphic elements, bit mapped mask specification instance variables defining the transparent and nontransparent portions of said graphic elements, and bit mapped map specification instance variables defining mouse sensitive portions of said graphic elements, said process requiring a computer having a mouse for input, said mouse having one or more mouse buttons, a keyboard input capability and having an object oriented programming environment with an interactive display editor program for defining elements of display objects representing said graphic elements, a program editor program for programming data and methods for manipulating objects assigned to said display objects and to other objects of said programming environment, and a display program means, said display program means supporting windows, for assembling said graphic elements within at least one of said windows defined upon the display and enabling the interactive positioning and repositioning of said graphic elements at locations within one or more of said windows, comprising the steps of

a) using the display editor program to interactively define bit mapped figure specification instance variables of a new graphic element, the data for which figure specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element,

b) using the display editor program to interactively define bit mapped mask specification instance variables defining transparent and nontransparent portions of said new graphic element, the data for which mask specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element,

c) repeating steps a) and b) one or more times to define a plurality of display objects,

d) using either the display editor program or the program editor program for assigning occlusion priorities to each of said new graphic elements by storing data in at least one of said instance variables associated with each display object such that when the display program means is invoked to move one or more of said graphic elements to a position in which said moved graphic elements geometrically overlap one or more of other said graphic elements to created overlaid portions, said nontransparent portions of said graphic elements having higher occlusion priorities mask all said overlaid portions of graphic elements having lower occlusion priorities,

e) using the display editor program and the program editor program to interactively define one or more of said map specification instance variables of at least one said new graphic element, the data for which map specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element, and

f) using the program editor program to define one or more of said methods or messages to be activated when the mouse is used to bring the mouse cursor over said mouse sensitive areas of said graphic element and one of said mouse buttons is pushed, said methods and messages being associated with a display object corresponding to said graphic element.

15. A computer assisted process for the interactive design of user manipulable graphic elements associated with an application domain and displayed upon a bit mapped computer display, said graphic elements being comprised of at least bit mapped figure specification instance variables defining the appearance of said graphic elements, bit mapped mask specification instance variables defining the transparent and nontransparent portions of said graphic elements, and bit mapped map specification instance variables defining mouse sensitive portions of said graphic elements, said graphic elements comprising the visual representations of programming items, said process requiring a computer having a mouse for input, said mouse having one or more mouse buttons, a keyboard input capability and having an object oriented programming environment with an interactive display editor program for defining elements of display objects representing said graphic elements, a program editor program for programming data and methods for manipulating objects assigned to said display objects and to other objects of said programming environment, and a display program means, said display program means supporting windows, for assembling said graphic elements within at least one of said windows defined upon the display and enabling the interactive positioning and repositioning of said graphic elements at locations within one or more of said windows, comprising the steps of

a) using the display editor program to interactively define bit mapped figure specification instance variables of a new graphic element, the data for which figure specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element,

b) using the display editor program to interactively define bit mapped mask specification instance variables, the data for which mask specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element,

c) repeating steps a) and b) one or more times to define a plurality of display objects,

d) using either the display editor program or the program editor program for assigning occlusion priorities to each of said new graphic elements by storing data in at least one of said instance variables associated with each display object such that when the display program means is invoked to move one or more of said graphic elements to a position in which said moved graphic elements geometrically overlap one another or more of other said graphic elements to created overlaid portions, said nontransparent portions of said graphic elements having higher occlusion priorities mask all said overlaid portions of graphic elements having lower occlusion priorities,

e) using the display editor program and the program editor program to interactively define one or more of said map specification instance variables of at least one said new graphic element, the data for which map specification instance variables are associated with a display object corresponding to said new graphic element,

f) using the program editor program to define one or more of said methods or messages to be activated when the mouse is used to bring the mouse cursor over said mouse sensitive areas of said graphic element and one of said mouse buttons is pushed, said methods and messages being stored at instance variables associated with the display object corresponding to said graphic element, and

g) using the program editor program to define methods for domain objects, said domain objects representing objects from said application domain and said methods specifying the function of said programming items and for exchanging messages with a display object defining the visual representation of said programming items.