System and method for rendering electronic images

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein step c) further comprises storing said first and second compressed image files that are decompressed to a bitmap file.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 , further comprising accessing a display context prior to storing said first compressed image file to said bitmap file.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 , wherein said first compressed image file is transferred across the Internet.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 , wherein said first compressed image file is a GIF or a JPEG type file.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 , wherein step a) further comprises initializing a first rendering module.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 , wherein said first decoder module and said first rendering module are objects.

Claim 9

The method of claim 7 , wherein said objects are Microsoft OLE 2.0 objects.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 , wherein said first rendering module and said first decoder module communicate with said decompressed image files through a synchronization system.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 , wherein said first compressed image file and said second compressed image file are transferred across said wide area network through a Microsoft Windows 95 communication Application Program Interface (API).

Claim 12

The method of claim 10 , wherein said API is the Microsoft Windows 95 URL Moniker API.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein said first encoded file is an image file.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein said second encoded file is an image file.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein said first encoded file is located on a server computer.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein said server computer is an Internet server.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising: an interface between a program and one of the first decoder module and the second decoder module to provide a link to any decoding activity therein.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising: an interface between a program and one of the first decoder module and the second decoder module to allow the program to paint any available portion of a requested image to a display.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising: an interface to allow a first object within one of the first decoder module and the second decoder module to perform a state inquiry for determining the state of a second object.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising: a mechanism to ensure that an object created within a first context is called only from within the first context.

Claim 23

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to render a plurality of compressed image files transferred to a computer system, the method comprising: initiating a first thread on a computer system for downloading a first compressed image file, said first thread including commands for initiating a first decoder module that is specific for decoding the type of said second compressed image file; initiating a second thread on said computer system for downloading a second compressed image file, said thread including commands for initiating a second decoder module that is specific for decoding the type of said second compressed image file; initiating a third thread on said computer system, said third thread being in communication with said first thread and said second thread, said third thread including commands for instructing said first decoder module and said second decoder module to decompress said first compressed image file and said second compressed image file; and rendering the decompressed image files.

Claim 24

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to render a plurality of compressed image files transferred to a computer system, the method comprising: initiating a first thread on a computer system for downloading a first compressed image file, said first thread including commands for initiating a first decoder module that is specific for decoding the type of said second compressed image file; initiating a second thread on said computer system for downloading a second compressed image file, said thread including commands for initiating a second decoder module that is specific for decoding the type of said second compressed image file; initiating a third thread on said computer system, said third thread being in communication with said first thread and said second thread, said third thread including commands for instructing said first decoder module and said second decoder module to decompress said first compressed image file and said second compressed image file; and rendering the decompressed image files.

Claim 25

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method for decoding encoded files comprising: providing a plurality of encoded files; initiating a binding thread on a computer, said thread including commands for instantiating a plurality of decoder module types of said computer; identifying the type of each of said encoded files; initiating a worker thread having a context; instantiating one of said decoder module types for each of said encoded files; and operating multiple decoder module types within the context of the worker thread to decode the encoded files.

Claim 26

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method for decoding encoded files comprising: providing a plurality of encoded files; initiating a binding thread on a computer, said thread including commands for instantiating a plurality of decoder module types of said computer; identifying the type of each of said encoded files; initiating a worker thread having a context; instantiating one of said decoder module types for each of said encoded files; and operating multiple decoder module types within the context of the worker thread to decode the encoded files.

Claim 27

The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein multiple worker threads are initiated by one or more binding threads to control the decoding of further compressed files wherein at least two decoder modules are operated within the context of at least one of the worker threads.