Accessbar arbiter
First Claim
1. In a computer system having screen objects, a video display for displaying the screen objects, a computer program for causing the video display to display a managed one of the screen objects that is managed by the computer program, and an arbiter for arbitrating requests for locations on the video display to display the screen objects based on a criteria, a method performed by the computer program comprising the steps of:
- sending a request to the arbiter for a proposed location on the video display for the managed screen object;
receiving an indication from the arbiter indicating whether the arbiter determines to display the managed screen object at the proposed location or at an alternative location;
requesting the computer system to display the managed screen object at the proposed location on the video display when the received indication indicates that the arbiter determined to display the managed screen object at the proposed location; and
requesting the computer system to display the managed screen object at the alternative location on the video display when the received indication indicates that the arbiter determined to display the managed screen object at the alternative location.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described herein is an accessbar arbiter that resolves conflicting requests from screen objects for locations on a video display. In addition, the accessbar arbiter governs the behavior of screen objects so as to prevent one screen object from negatively affecting another screen object. An example of these screen objects includes accessbars. An accessbar is a consistently visible user interface dement that provides a user with access to computer programs. In a computer system, accessbars are typically anchored at the edge of the display and there is no limit to the number of accessbars that can appear on the display at a given time, thus problems may arise. For example, more than one accessbar may wish to be displayed at a given location. In addition, the functionality of one accessbar may affect the processing of other accessbars. Thus, for the accessbars displayed on a computer display to operate together, a centralized mechanism for governing accessbars'"'"' location and behavior is desirable. The system described herein provides such a mechanism, known as an accessbar arbiter. The system described herein governs accessbars'"'"' location by receiving requests for proposed locations and by granting the requests if the proposed locations would not conflict with another accessbar. If such a conflict would occur, the system described herein provides an alternate location. The system described herein governs accessbars'"'"' behavior by providing a number of notifications to the accessbars whenever an event occurs that may affect the processing of the accessbars. Such an event includes changes to another accessbar on the same side of the display or the start of a fullscreen application, such as a screen saver.
39 Citations
32 Claims
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1. In a computer system having screen objects, a video display for displaying the screen objects, a computer program for causing the video display to display a managed one of the screen objects that is managed by the computer program, and an arbiter for arbitrating requests for locations on the video display to display the screen objects based on a criteria, a method performed by the computer program comprising the steps of:
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sending a request to the arbiter for a proposed location on the video display for the managed screen object; receiving an indication from the arbiter indicating whether the arbiter determines to display the managed screen object at the proposed location or at an alternative location; requesting the computer system to display the managed screen object at the proposed location on the video display when the received indication indicates that the arbiter determined to display the managed screen object at the proposed location; and requesting the computer system to display the managed screen object at the alternative location on the video display when the received indication indicates that the arbiter determined to display the managed screen object at the alternative location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A data processing system, comprising:
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a video display displaying a plurality of currently displayed screen objects; a memory comprising; an arbiter further comprising; a first processing component that receives a first message containing an indication of a screen object and that stores the indication of the screen object creating a stored indication to register the screen object with the arbiter thereby creating a registered screen object; a second processing component that receives a second message containing an indication of the registered screen object and that deletes the stored indication of the registered screen object to deregister the registered screen object with the arbiter; and a third processing component that receives a third message containing a request for a proposed location on the video display, that determines whether a location of at least one currently displayed screen object conflicts with the proposed location, that returns the proposed location when no conflict exists, and that returns an alternative location on the video display when a conflict exists; a computer program having a register component that sends to the arbiter the first message to register the screen object, a request component that sends to the arbiter the third message to request a proposed location on the video display for displaying the registered screen object and for receiving an indication of a location on the computer display for displaying the registered screen object, a display component for displaying the registered screen object at the indicated location, and a deregister component that sends the second message to the arbiter to deregister the registered screen object; and a processor for running the arbiter and the computer program. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-readable memory device that contains a data structure for use in transferring data between a computer program that displays an accessbar on a computer display of a computer system and an arbiter for arbitrating requests for locations on the computer display to display accessbars, wherein the computer program specifies a proposed location for an accessbar on the computer display in the data structure and sends the data structure to the arbiter, wherein the arbiter receives the data structure and determines if the proposed location conflicts with at least one accessbar currently displayed on the computer display, wherein when there is no conflict, the arbiter sends the data structure containing the proposed location to the computer program and wherein when there is a conflict, the arbiter sends the data structure containing an alternative location to the computer program, the data structure comprising:
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a first element containing an identifier of an accessbar; and a second element containing a bounding rectangle for specifying a location on the computer display that reflects the proposed location when the computer program sends the data structure to the arbiter, that reflects the alternative location when the arbiter determines that the proposed location conflicts with the at least one accessbar currently displayed on the computer display, and that reflects the proposed location when the arbiter determines that the proposed location does not conflict with the at least one accessbar currently displayed on the computer display.
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20. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system having a video display for displaying screen objects, a computer program for causing the video display to display a selected one of the screen objects, and an arbiter for arbitrating requests for locations on the video display to display the screen objects based on a criteria, by performing the steps of:
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receiving a request from the computer program at the arbiter containing a proposed location to display the selected screen object on the video display; determining with the arbiter whether to display the selected screen object at the proposed location based on the criteria; when the arbiter makes a determination to display the selected screen object at the proposed location, causing the video display to display the selected screen object at the proposed location by the computer program; and when the arbiter makes a determination not to display the selected screen object at the proposed location, determining with the arbiter an alternative location on the video display at which to display the selected screen object; and causing the video display to display the selected screen object at the alternative location by the computer program. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system, the computer system having a video display for displaying screen objects having attributes, a plurality of computer programs, wherein each computer program causes the video display to display at least one of the screen objects, and an arbiter for arbitrating requests for locations on the video display to display the screen objects based on a criteria, by performing the steps of:
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registering the screen objects by the computer programs with the arbiter to create registered screen objects that are arbitrated by the arbiter; receiving a request by the arbiter from one of the computer programs for a proposed location of a first of the registered screen objects on the video display; determining with the arbiter whether to display the first registered screen object at the proposed location based on the criteria; when the arbiter makes a determination to display the first registered screen object at the proposed location, causing the video display to display the first registered screen object at the proposed location by the one computer program; when the arbiter makes a determination not to display the first registered screen object at the proposed location, determining with the arbiter an alternative location on the video display at which to display the first registered screen object; and causing the video display to display the first registered screen object at the alternative location by the one computer program; determining with the arbiter when an attribute of a second registered screen object is modified; and when the arbiter makes a determination that an attribute of the second registered screen object has been modified, sending a notification of the modification to the computer programs that have registered screen objects.
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27. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system, the computer system having a video display for displaying accessbars, a first computer program for displaying a first accessbar on the video display, a second computer program for displaying a second accessbar on the video display and an arbiter for resolving conflicting requests of locations for accessbars on the video display, by performing the steps of:
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displaying the first accessbar at a selected location on the video display by the first computer program; sending a request from the second computer program to the arbiter to display the second accessbar at the selected location; determining with the arbiter that the request conflicts with one of the accessbars displayed on the video display; determining a suitable alternate location on the video display by the arbiter for the second accessbar; sending the alternate location from the arbiter to the second computer program; and causing the video display to display the second accessbar at the alternate location by the second computer program.
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28. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system having screen objects, a video display for displaying the screen objects, a computer program for causing the video display to display a managed one of the screen objects that is managed by the computer program, and an arbiter for arbitrating requests for locations on the video display to display the screen objects based on a criteria, by performing the steps of:
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sending a request to the arbiter for a proposed location on the video display for the managed screen object; receiving an indication from the arbiter indicating whether the arbiter determines to display the managed screen object at the proposed location or at an alternative location; requesting the computer system to display the managed screen object at the proposed location on the video display when the received indication indicates that the arbiter determined to display the managed screen object at the proposed location; and requesting the computer system to display the managed screen object at the alternative location on the video display when the received indication indicates that the arbiter determined to display the managed screen object at the alternative location. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification