US4868765A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Porthole window system for computer displays
Assignee: Texas Instruments Inc
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Filing: 1986-01-02
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Granted: 1989-09-19
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Expires: 2006-01-02
Abstract
Abstract A porthole window system for computer displays allows a user to look at a portion of a window which could otherwise not be seen. A porthole window acts as an opening in a window of the usual type through which underlying windows may be seen. A porthole window can have different features as desired, including links to selected source and target windows, real time movement on the display screen, and the ability to be updated when a target window is updated. The porthole system runs concurrently with the normal window handling system of the computer.
Inventors
- 👤 Keith E. Diefendorff
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 02:29
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09G; G09G5/00; G09G5/14
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 35
Claim 1
Independent Claim
191 words
A system for generating porthole windows for a computer display, comprising: a screen memory; an output driver connected to the screen memory and to the display for converting the contents of the screen memory into a signal suitable for use by the display; at least one bit save array memory for holding the contents of information windows; and a controller coupled to said screen memory and to said bit save array memories for selectively transferring the contents of the bit save array memories to the screen memory, and for selectively transferring information between selected bit save arrays, wherein at least one selected portion of a bit save array is not transferred to said screen memory; wherein said controller includes a porthole bit save array which contains an exact copy of a selected portion of one of said bit save arrays which is not transferred to said screen memory from said bit save array, wherein said porthole bit save array is updated to reflect any changes which are made in the selected portion, and wherein the contents of the porthole bit save array are transferred to said screen memory by said controller.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
191 words
A system for generating porthole windows for a computer display, comprising: a screen memory; an output driver connected to the screen memory and to the display for converting the contents of the screen memory into a signal suitable for use by the display; at least one bit save array memory for holding the contents of information windows; and a controller coupled to said screen memory and to said bit save array memories for selectively transferring the contents of the bit save array memories to the screen memory, and for selectively transferring information between selected bit save arrays, wherein at least one selected portion of a bit save array is not transferred to said screen memory; wherein said controller includes a porthole bit save array which contains an exact copy of a selected portion of one of said bit save arrays which is not transferred to said screen memory from said bit save array, wherein said porthole bit save array is updated to reflect any changes which are made in the selected portion, and wherein the contents of the porthole bit save array are transferred to said screen memory by said controller.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said porthole bit save array is contained in memory directly addressable only by the controller.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 2, wherein said bit save arrays are directly addressable only by the controller.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 1, wherein the porthole bit save array occupies a separate location in memory from any of said bit save array memories.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 1, wherein the porthole bit save array occupies the same memory location as the selected portion of one of said bit save arrays.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
111 words
In a computer system having a window system display, a method for generating a porthole window, comprising the steps of: (a) copying selected information from a first window memory to a porthole memory; (b) copying selected information from a plurality of window memories to a screen memory, wherein the select information copied in step (a) is not copied from the first window memory to the screen memory, and wherein the contents of the screen memory will be displayed in the window system display; and (c) copying the contents of the porthole memory to the screen memory, wherein the contents of the porthole memory will be displayed in the window system display.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
111 words
In a computer system having a window system display, a method for generating a porthole window, comprising the steps of: (a) copying selected information from a first window memory to a porthole memory; (b) copying selected information from a plurality of window memories to a screen memory, wherein the select information copied in step (a) is not copied from the first window memory to the screen memory, and wherein the contents of the screen memory will be displayed in the window system display; and (c) copying the contents of the porthole memory to the screen memory, wherein the contents of the porthole memory will be displayed in the window system display.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 6, wherein, in step (b), at least a portion of the first window save memory is copied to the screen memory.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
113 words
A system for generating porthole windows for a computer display, comprising: a screen memory; an output driver connected to the screen memory and to the display for converting the contents of the screen memory into a signal suitable for use by the display; and a controller for transferring information to such screen memory to define windows therein, wherein said controller defines a porthole memory which contains a copy of a selected portion of one of an overlapped window, wherein the information in the porthole memory is also transferred to said screen memory, and wherein the selected portion includes information which would not be, except for the porthole memory, transferred to said screen memory.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
113 words
A system for generating porthole windows for a computer display, comprising: a screen memory; an output driver connected to the screen memory and to the display for converting the contents of the screen memory into a signal suitable for use by the display; and a controller for transferring information to such screen memory to define windows therein, wherein said controller defines a porthole memory which contains a copy of a selected portion of one of an overlapped window, wherein the information in the porthole memory is also transferred to said screen memory, and wherein the selected portion includes information which would not be, except for the porthole memory, transferred to said screen memory.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 8, further comprising a plurality of predefined memory locations wherein the information contained in the windows is stored.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 9, wherein said porthole memory and said window memories comprise bit save arrays.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 8, wherein the information in the porthole memory is updated to reflect any changes which are made in the selected portion.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 8, wherein the porthole memory occupies a separate location in memory from any of the windows.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 8, wherein the porthole memory occupies the same location in memory as the selected portion of one of said windows.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for displaying information on a computer output device, comprising the steps of: (a) defining at least two overlapping windows of information at least one of which has a selected portion of information, and at least one of which has a non-selected portion of information; (b) defining a porthole which contains a selected area of the non-selected portion of information; and (c) displaying on the output device the selected portions of the said overlapping windows of information defined in step (a), and the information in the porthole at the selected location.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for displaying information on a computer output device, comprising the steps of: (a) defining at least two overlapping windows of information at least one of which has a selected portion of information, and at least one of which has a non-selected portion of information; (b) defining a porthole which contains a selected area of the non-selected portion of information; and (c) displaying on the output device the selected portions of the said overlapping windows of information defined in step (a), and the information in the porthole at the selected location.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the selected subset of step (b) contains less than the entire non-selected portion of information.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the porthole contains a selected subset of non-selected information from exactly one window.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 16, wherein the selected subset contains less than the entire non-selected portion of the window.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 14, further comprising: (d) defining at least one additional porthole which contains a selected subset of a non-selected portion of information which is not identical to the selected subset of step (b); and (e) displaying on the output device the information in the additional porthole defined in step (d).
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
10 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the porthole is rectangular.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 14, wherein any change to a window having a porthole corresponding to a non-selected portion of information causes the porthole to be updated to reflect the information currently in the selected subset.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
91 words
A method for organizing information on a computer display, comprising the steps of: (a) defining a plurality of windows containing information; (b) displaying said windows on the computer display, wherein at least one window is defined to be wholly or partially covered by a portion of at least one other of the windows, and wherein any covered window parts are not selected for display; (c) defining a porthole which contains a copy of a selected covered window part; and (d) displaying said porthole at a select location on the computer display.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
91 words
A method for organizing information on a computer display, comprising the steps of: (a) defining a plurality of windows containing information; (b) displaying said windows on the computer display, wherein at least one window is defined to be wholly or partially covered by a portion of at least one other of the windows, and wherein any covered window parts are not selected for display; (c) defining a porthole which contains a copy of a selected covered window part; and (d) displaying said porthole at a select location on the computer display.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 21, wherein the porthole is positioned on the display in the same location as the selected covered window part would be located if it were not covered.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 21, wherein the porthole continues to be displayed even if another window is positioned to cover a portion thereof.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
103 words
In a window display system for an electronic computer, wherein a plurality of overlapping windows are displayed, and wherein portions of windows which are overlapped by other windows are not displayed, the improvement comprising: a target window, having a first selected region therein, at least a portion of the first selected region being overlapped by another window, whereby the first selected region is not displayed; a porthole window, said porthole window containing a copy of information which is in the first selected region of the target window; and a source window, wherein a second selected region thereof is covered by said porthole window.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
103 words
In a window display system for an electronic computer, wherein a plurality of overlapping windows are displayed, and wherein portions of windows which are overlapped by other windows are not displayed, the improvement comprising: a target window, having a first selected region therein, at least a portion of the first selected region being overlapped by another window, whereby the first selected region is not displayed; a porthole window, said porthole window containing a copy of information which is in the first selected region of the target window; and a source window, wherein a second selected region thereof is covered by said porthole window.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 24, wherein the entire first selected region is covered by at least one other window.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of claim 25, wherein said porthole window is linked to said source window, wherein said porthole window is displayed only to the extent that the second selected region is not covered by another window.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 25, wherein the first and second selected regions coincide in the location in which they would be displayed if they were not covered by other windows or portions thereof.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
37 words
The system of claim 25, wherein a new target window can be selected, whereby the information in said porthole window is changed to match the information contained in a third selected region in the new target window.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 25, wherein a new source window can be selected, whereby the information contained in said porthole window covers a third selected region in the new source window.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1992-09-18 | 1993-03-20 | 1993-09-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1996-09-18 | 1997-03-20 | 1997-09-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2000-09-18 | 2001-03-20 | 2001-09-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |