AU664055B2 - Operator initiated display window recall - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION S F Ref: 226003 FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Sony (Australia) Pty Limited 33-39 Talavera Road North Ryde New South Wales 2113

AUSTRALIA

Shunsuke Sakoda, Peter Schwenke Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Operator Initiated Display Window Recall

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I ri r a ri Invention Title: ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION DETAILS [31] Application No(s) [33] Country PK9687 AU [32] Application Date 25 November 1991 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- -2- The present nvention relates to the recall, as a result of operator initiation, of display windows in a screen display of a computer program. The present invention finds particular application in, but is not restricted to, automatic recording and transmission systems as used in television and radio broadcasting.

BACKGROUND ART In a television broadcasting station, for example, the automatic recording and transmission system (ARTS) consists of one or more machines for the automatic retrieval and return of video cassettes, or equivalent storage devices. Such machines, known as CART machines include an elevator or transport mechanism which carries the cassette between a selected one of a plurality of storage areas and one or more recording/replaying apparatus such as video cassette recorders. The entire arrangement is under the control of a central computer which interconnects the individual items.

The computerised control system consists of the computer itself, at least one display terminal having a keyboard and generally a mouse input device, and various operating programs.

The ARTS is able to be operated under computer control so as to carry out a number of functions including: a Recording video/audio signals into the library of cassettes stored in the CART machine, 0000 o: o filing identifications of signals to a data base within the S.computer, 25 transmitting those recorded signals to air for broadcasting, creating and editing a record list from which recording is done automatically, o creating and editing a play list from which transmission to air is done automatically, and so on.

In the above described computer system, and in many other similar computer systems, multiple display windows have been introduced to provide the man/machine interface and display both data and images on the screen of the display terminal. As a consequence, to operate the system of the control computer, the operator usually uses more than one 0 35 window on the screen at each time. In each screen the computer displays various items of data or images as necessary for the making of decisions by the operator.

HRF/0530o P- -71 -3- Since the total size of the screen is limited, and the capacity of the operator to adequately absorb information is also limited, it is important to choose the best combination of possible windows from among a wide range of possible windows. In particular, it is highly desirable to only select those windows which are necessary to the particular operation at hand. It is also important to allocate both the size and location of those windows in the best possible way.

As a consequence of these needs, different aspects, or utility options, of the overall control system require that different windows be displayed. For example, the windows displayed during the creating and editing of the record list will, in general, be different from the windows displayed during the creating and editing of the play list. As a consequence, hitherto in order to operate the overall computer system the operator has been required to change the combination of the windows in accordance with changes in the selection of utility options. It is therefore necessary for each window on the screen to be closed at the end of each session for a particular utility option, for the next utility option to be selected, and for each window required for that option to be opened in turn. In the special case of the same data being displayed in a particular window in each of the successive options, it o. would be possible to move and re-size the existing window, however, this o would be very tedious.

o Furthermore, the manipulation of windows is a relatively skilled operation and requires a relatively high degree of computer literacy.

o 25 However, some of the tasks controlled by the ARTS, for example, are most economically done by employees having lower wage rates because they do not have such highly developed computer skills. It is therefore a first a°aobject of the present invention to reduce the costs of operating such an ARTS system by the provision of screen displays of the computer program which are able to be operated by operators of relatively low levels of computer sophistication.

A further problem with the prior art is that the decisions as to which windows are required for which programs, how much data, and of what type, is to be displayed in each window, the size and position of a 35 the windows, and which window is to be given prominence, are all highly subjective decisions. Which particular selection of all the combinations is best is also dependent upon the experience and training of the operator. Therefore although it would be possible to fix the HRF/0530o

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-4above described parameters of the display windows in the program, so as not be adjustable by the user, this would only satisfy possibly a minority of potential users.

For this reason it is desirable that the layout of the display windows be able to be specified by the user. On the other hand, it is highly desirable that once an advantageous layout has been arrived at, that the layout be able to be saved so as to be easily re-used at a later date and modified in the light of accumulated experience. Thus a further object is to provide this flexibility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the light of the foregoing, the present invention discloses a method of operat,.' initiated recall of display windows in a screen display of a computer program able to be operated on a computer having a screen and a keyboard and/or a mouse, the method comprising the steps of: 0 providing a command or icon in a menu displayed on the screen which 0 is selectable by the operator using the keyboard or mouse, wherein a plurality of o o Q windows are displayed when the command or icon is selected; 0 providing a UTILITY command in the menu which further comprises 0 a LOAD option and a SAVE option for retrieving and storing window parameters of the display windows, respectively, the window parameters comprising a size and/or a position of each window of the plurality of windows; when necessary, adjusting the window parameters of the plurality of windows of the selected command or icon currently displayed; and either selecting the SAVE option to store the window parameters of the plurality of display windows of the selected command or icon currently displayed; or selecting the LOAD option to retrieve the window parameters of the plurality of display windows of the selected command or icon and displaying the S00 plurality of windows corresponding to the window parameters.

*DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0 An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of an automatic recording and transmission Ssystem (ARTS), Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the display terminal of the control computer of Fig. 1 illustrating multiple overlapping windows, Figs. 3A and 3B respectively illustrate the preferred display windows for recording and for the editing of a play list, Figs. 4A-4D illustrate screen displays during the selection of program options, and 0N:\iibcc0021 O:cg p.- -4a- Figs. 5A-5D are respectively flow charts of the SAVE operation, the LOAD operation, and tne main program logic.

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r Set out in the Annexure hereto are program fragments which set forth the line-by-line program instructions used in the preferred embodiment.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE The program instructions contained in the Annexure hereto are the subject of copyright and are not be reproduced and/or implemented without the prior written permission of the applicant/patentee.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Turning now to Fig. 1, the automatic recording and transmission system (ARTS) is schematically indicated therein and consists of the CART machine 1 having a large number of storage locations for cassettes and a number of video cassette recorders (VCR's) 2, both of which are connected to a control computer 3 having a display terminal 4, keyboard and mouse 6.

As explained above, the operation of the programs contained in the control computer 3 requires the simultaneous display, as indicated in Fig. 2, of multiple display windows on the screen 7 of the display terminal 4. The windows are indicated as 8A, 8B and 8C. Because of the limited size of the screen 7, the windows 8 overlap and therefore the size of an individual window and whether it lies above or below adjacent windows, must be selected with care. Pre-existing utility routines, and their accompanying libraries provided by the operating system are known to create windows. For example, the Windows utility routine of the well known MS-DOS operating system or the X-Window routine of the UNIX operating system assist application programmers in the creating and displaying necessary windows on the screen. (MS-DOS and Windows are trade marks of Microsoft, UNIX is the trade mark of AT T, and ,i X-Hindows is the trade mark of MIT.) o ~These pre-existing programs use library routines to store a set of parameters to create the windows on the screen. By the use of these libraries, application programmers are able to arrange for their computer to open and close windows by use of the keyboard 5 and/or the mouse 6. The skilled operator can also move the position of the windows i, and re-size (enlarge or shrink) them accordingly. Whenever the windows are opened, moved, or re-sized the parameter is required to be modified. This requirement places a relatively high demand on the programming skills of the operator of the system.

HRF/0530o Imu~~ Figs. 3A and 3B illustrate two different screen layouts. In Fig.

3A the display windows for the creation or editing of the record list are illustrated. In Fig. 3B the display windows for the creating or editing of a play list are illustrated. It will be seen that the size and position of the display windows varies from one utility option (recording) to the next (play list editing). In addition, the interior information displayed in the display windows can be either the same or different. To allow the operator to memorize a screen layout whenever it is displayed, whether before, during or after the operation of a particular function, the size (height and width) and location (XY co-ordinates) of each display window are memorized for subsequent recall. This is accomplished by the provision of a SAVE option and a LOAD option.

Fig. 4 illustrates how these options are implemented. Fig. 4A illustrates the general menu which enables the utility options (such as create a record list, edit a record list, create a play list, edit a play list, and so on) to be selected. Once the utility options are selected in Fig. 4A, a pull down menu appears as indicated in Fig. 4B which includes the SAVE and LOAD indicators. If the SAVE option is selected, this opens a furTher window as indicated in Fig. 4C which enables the operators to input via the keyboard the name of the screen which is to be memorized with the identification. It is presumed that prior to entering the SAVE option, the operator is previously, for example, editing a play list and thus the display windows indicated in Fig. 3B, for example, are to be saved. As indicated in Fig. 4C, by typing a particular name such as "Play List" the particular combination of the three display windows of Fig. 3B can then be stored under the name "Play List" under the list of names.

Similarly, if the operator now selects the LOAD option the pull down menu indicated in Fig. 4D is displayed together with the names of the previously stored display windows from one of which can be selected the desired window configuration. Once the selection has taken place the pull down menus are closed, the desired displayed windows retrieved from memory, and then displayed on the screen.

A flow chart describing the operator actions and the corresponding computer actions ,for both the SAVE and LOAD options are respectively illustrated in Figs. 5A and 5B. The logic of the main program is illustrated in the flowchart of Fig. SC.

HRF/0530o Ma -7- The window configuration is read within the X Toolkit library routine XtOpenDisplay. The variable ClassName, which holds information identifying the application, is passed as a parameter to XtOpenDisplay.

XtOpenDisplay calls the X Toolkit library routine Xtlnitialize which checks for the existence of a file, with the name stored in the program variable ClassName, in the directory specified in XAPPLRESDIR.

XAPPLRESDIR is a user configurable UNIX environment variable. If the file exists its configuration is read.

The window is created by calling a number of X Toolkit and OSF Motif library routines.

The current window configuration is then stored by RAM in the program. The window configuration is determined by a combination of calls to the X Toolkit routines XtSetArg and XtGetValues. A handler, which is called when the window configuration changes, is then installed. These two tasks are performed by the supplied routine shellInit. The handler is the supplied routine resizeShell.

Events generated by X Windows are then processed by the X Toolkit routine XtMainLoop. If the pushButton is pressed then the supplied routine, exitProc, is called. The routine, exitProc, will invoke the supplied routine, saveCfg. The routine saveCfg will save the window configuration in the file with the name specified in ClassName in the directory specified in XAPPLRESDIR. The program will then exit.

The program listing for these actions is included in the Appendix. A knowledge of the UNIX operating system plus MOTIF (a trade 25 mark of Open Software Foundation (OSF)) knowledge is assumed together with a familiarity with the language.

It will be apparent that the above described arrangement enables a broadcast station, for example, to have a single operator (either as an Semployee or as an on-call consultant) who is able to adjust the size, position, layout, content, and so on of the display windows in Saccordance with the particular requirements of the broadcast station, but that thereafter the creating and editing of record lists and play lists can be done by relatively unskilled computer operators who are primarily concerned with the scheduling of the broadcast activities, 35 rather than the detail of the opertion of the control computer. As a consequence of this advance, the overall operating expense of the broadcast station is reduced.

HRF/0530o L __ii xI PIIPIP CPIMn*Ci4i~~ -8- The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from scope of the present invention.

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Claims (8)

1. A method of operator initiated recall of display windows in a screen display of a computer program able to be operated on a computer having a screen and a keyboard and/or a mouse, said method comprising the steps of: providing a command or icon in a menu displayed on said screen which is selectable by said operator using said keyboard or mouse, wherein a plurality of windows are displayed when said command or icon is ;elected; providing a UTILITY command in said menu which further compl ilses a LOAD option and a SAVE option for retrieving and storing window parameters of said display windows, respectively, said window parameters comprising a size and/or a position of each window of said plurality of windows; when necessary, adjusting said window parameters of said plurality of windows of said selected command or icon currently displayed; and either selecting said SAVE option to store said window parameters of said plurality of display windows of said selected command or icon currently displayed; or selecting said LOAD option to retrieve said window parameters of said plurality of display windows of said selected command or icon and displaying said plurality of windows corresponding to said window parameters.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said window parameters further comprise a colour of each window of said plurality of windows.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said window parameters further comprise pointers for indicating the status and positions of data to be displayed 1in each window of said plurality of windows.

4. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said window parameters are stored under file names associated with said selected command or icon.

5. A method as claimed in any ,ne of claims 1 to 4 wherein said window parameters are stored under a default name when said computer shuts down.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said window parameters 3o stored under said default name are retrieved when said computer subsequently starts up.

7. A method of operator initiated recall of display windows in a screen display of a computer program able to be operated on a computer having a screen and a keyboard and/or a mouse, said method substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3A 3B, 4A-4C, and 5A-5C of the drawings. ~L~Uihrrlnne'~---- r

8. An automatic recording and transmission system having operator initiated recall of display windows, said system being substantially as described with reference to te dawigs. DATED this Fourteenth Day of August 1995 Sony (Australia) Pty Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON o 1 044 C T~ 71' [N0b*0011x ~mi~;rwi Operator Initiated Display Window Recall ABSTRACT A method of operator initiated recall of display windows in a screen display of a display terminal of a computer program able to be operated on a computer is disclosed. The size and/or position of the windows (8A, 8B, 8C) is able to be manipulated and saved under a SAVE option of a utility command. Subsequent selection of a LOAD option of the utility command retrieves under program control the stored parameters of the windows which are then displayed. Figure 2 *0 a a! a aal ,aaa o 00r 044000 a as *e a a a 04 *s Oa pl I