System and method for capturing images of screens which display multiple windows

Claim 1

A method for capturing data pertaining to an image displayed on a computer monitor, in which information is displayed in multiple windows that are located at different effective distances from the viewer in the image, comprising the steps of: designating a boundary within the image, said boundary defining a capture region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; generating a list of each window that is at least partially contained within said capture region; determining whether any window on said list is completely obscured from view within said capture region by other windows, and removing each such completely obscured window from said list; obtaining pixel values for the windows which remain on said list; and storing said pixel values in a map, wherein said determining and removing steps include the steps of creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region. wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 2

A method for capturing data pertaining to an image displayed on a computer monitor, in which information is displayed in multiple windows that are located at different effective distances from the viewer in the image, comprising the steps of: designating a boundary within the image, said boundary defining a capture region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; generating a list of each window that is at least partially contained within said capture region; determining whether any window on said list is completely obscured from view within said capture region by other windows, and removing each such completely obscured window from said list; obtaining pixel values for the windows which remain on said list; and storing said pixel values in a map, wherein said determining and removing steps include the steps of creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region. wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 10

A method for capturing data pertaining to an image displayed on a computer monitor, in which information is displayed in multiple windows that are located at different effective distances from the viewer in the image, comprising the steps of: defining a capture region within the image; generating a list of each window that is at least partially contained within said capture region; determining whether any window on said list is completely obscured from view within said capture region by other windows, and removing each such completely obscured window from said list; obtaining pixel values for the windows which remain on said list; and storing said pixel values in a map, wherein said determining and removing step includes the steps of: a) creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to said capture region; b) selecting a window from said list; c) calculating the area of intersection between said viewing region and the selected window; d) removing the window from the list if the area of intersection is null; e) updating the viewing region by subtracting the area of intersection from the viewing region; and f) repeating steps b-e for each of the other windows on the list, wherein windows are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 11

A method for capturing data pertaining to an image displayed on a computer monitor, in which information is displayed in multiple windows that are located at different effective distances from the viewer in the image, comprising the steps of: defining a capture region within the image; generating a list of each window that is at least partially contained within said capture region; determining whether any window on said list is completely obscured from view within said capture region by other windows, and removing each such completely obscured window from said list; obtaining pixel values for the windows which remain on said list; and storing said pixel values in a map, wherein said determining and removing step includes the steps of: a) creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to said capture region; b) selecting a window from said list; c) calculating the area of intersection between said viewing region and the selected window; d) removing the window from the list if the area of intersection is null; e) updating the viewing region by subtracting the area of intersection from the viewing region; and f) repeating steps b-e for each of the other windows on the list, wherein windows are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 13

A system for capturing a portion of an image displayed on a computer monitor, comprising: a display server which receives information, and displays said information on the computer monitor as an image having the appearance of different effective layers which can overlap one another; means for designating a boundary within said image, said boundary defining a capture region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; means for generating a list containing each layer having an area that is at least partially contained within said capture region; means for removing from said list each layer whose information is completely obscured within said capture region by displayed information in another layer; and means for obtaining from said display server data values pertaining to the displayed information in each layer remaining on said list and storing said values in a map, wherein said means for removing includes means for creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and means for iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region, wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 14

A system for capturing a portion of an image displayed on a computer monitor, comprising: a display server which receives information, and displays said information on the computer monitor as an image having the appearance of different effective layers which can overlap one another; means for designating a boundary within said image, said boundary defining a capture region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; means for generating a list containing each layer having an area that is at least partially contained within said capture region; means for removing from said list each layer whose information is completely obscured within said capture region by displayed information in another layer; and means for obtaining from said display server data values pertaining to the displayed information in each layer remaining on said list and storing said values in a map, wherein said means for removing includes means for creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and means for iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region, wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 20

A system for capturing a portion of an image displayed on a computer monitor, comprising: a display server which receives information, and displays said information on the computer monitor as an image having the appearance of different effective layers which can overlap one another; means for defining a capture region within said image; means for generating a list containing each layer having an area that is at least partially contained within said capture region; means for removing from said list each layer whose information is completely obscured within said capture region by displayed information in another layer; and means for obtaining from said display server data values pertaining to the displayed information in each layer remaining on said list and storing said values in a map, wherein said removing means includes: means for storing a viewing region which initially corresponds to said capture region; means for successively calculating the intersection of the area of the layers on said list with said viewing region, and removing a layer from the list if there is no intersecting area; and means for updating the viewing region by subtracting the intersecting area from the stored viewing region as the intersecting area for each layer is calculated.

Claim 21

A system for capturing a portion of an image displayed on a computer monitor, comprising: a display server which receives information, and displays said information on the computer monitor as an image having the appearance of different effective layers which can overlap one another; means for defining a capture region within said image; means for generating a list containing each layer having an area that is at least partially contained within said capture region; means for removing from said list each layer whose information is completely obscured within said capture region by displayed information in another layer; and means for obtaining from said display server data values pertaining to the displayed information in each layer remaining on said list and storing said values in a map, wherein said removing means includes: means for storing a viewing region which initially corresponds to said capture region; means for successively calculating the intersection of the area of the layers on said list with said viewing region, and removing a layer from the list if there is no intersecting area; and means for updating the viewing region by subtracting the intersecting area from the stored viewing region as the intersecting area for each layer is calculated.

Claim 23

A method for capturing data pertaining to an image displayed on a computer monitor, in which information is displayed in multiple windows that are located at different effective distances from the viewer in the image, comprising the steps of: designating a boundary within the image, said boundary defining a capture region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; generating a list of each window that is at least partially contained within said capture region; determining whether any window on said list is completely obscured from view within said capture region by other windows, and removing each such completely obscured window from said list; recording an intersecting area for each window that remains on the list, wherein an intersecting area for a particular window corresponds to a portion of the particular window which is visible within said capture region; obtaining pixel values for the recorded intersecting area for each window that remains on the list; and storing said pixel values in a map, wherein said determining and removing steps include the steps of creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region, wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 24

A method for capturing data pertaining to an image displayed on a computer monitor, in which information is displayed in multiple windows that are located at different effective distances from the viewer in the image, comprising the steps of: designating a boundary within the image, said boundary defining a capture region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; generating a list of each window that is at least partially contained within said capture region; determining whether any window on said list is completely obscured from view within said capture region by other windows, and removing each such completely obscured window from said list; recording an intersecting area for each window that remains on the list, wherein an intersecting area for a particular window corresponds to a portion of the particular window which is visible within said capture region; obtaining pixel values for the recorded intersecting area for each window that remains on the list; and storing said pixel values in a map, wherein said determining and removing steps include the steps of creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region, wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 25

A system for capturing a portion of an image displayed on a computer monitor, comprising: a display server receiving information and displaying the information on the computer monitor as an image having the appearance of different effective layers which can overlap one another; means for designating a boundary within the image, said boundary defining a region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; means for generating a list containing each layer having an area that is at least partially contained within said capture region; means for removing from said list each layer whose information is completely obscured within said capture region by displayed information in another layer; means for recording an intersecting area for each layer that remains on the list, wherein an intersecting area for a particular layer corresponds to a portion of the particular layer which is visible within said capture region; and means for obtaining from said display server data values corresponding to the intersecting area of each layer remaining on said list and storing said values in a map, wherein said means for removing includes means for creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and means for iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region, wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.

Claim 26

A system for capturing a portion of an image displayed on a computer monitor, comprising: a display server receiving information and displaying the information on the computer monitor as an image having the appearance of different effective layers which can overlap one another; means for designating a boundary within the image, said boundary defining a region for which image data is to be stored for subsequent processing; means for generating a list containing each layer having an area that is at least partially contained within said capture region; means for removing from said list each layer whose information is completely obscured within said capture region by displayed information in another layer; means for recording an intersecting area for each layer that remains on the list, wherein an intersecting area for a particular layer corresponds to a portion of the particular layer which is visible within said capture region; and means for obtaining from said display server data values corresponding to the intersecting area of each layer remaining on said list and storing said values in a map, wherein said means for removing includes means for creating a viewing region which initially corresponds to the designated boundary and means for iteratively updating the viewing region by selecting successive windows in the list and, for each selected window, subtracting from the viewing region an area of intersection between the selected window and the viewing region, wherein windows in the list are selected in order of effective distance from shortest effective distance to longest effective distance.