In a multiwindow system in which a plurality of windows are set on a display screen at positions such that these windows partially overlap and the display priority and position of each window can be arbitrarily changed, when the operator instructs to change the display priority of the window, a check is automatically made to see if there exists the window which will be completely covered by the other windows having priorities higher than that of this window and will fully disappear from the scre...

A method and system for manipulating the display of multiple software applications within a data processing system which are displayed within multiple windows which at least partially overlap in a selected order from a bottom position to a top position. A depth control window is displayed within the data processing system in response to a user input. The depth control window includes multiple graphic elements arranged in the selected order wherein each graphic element corresponds to a software a...

A method and apparatus for allocating memory space in main memory of an associated processor for a plurality of windows. The depth in each window is independent of other windows on the display and can be changed dynamically. An application program is not required to know the frame buffer depth in advance. When a window is created, a default depth (e.g., two bits per pixel) is defined for the window. When a program writes to the window, drawing commands are interpreted and the appropriate depth i...

A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handl...

A computer system, program product and method implement a time delay in an in-focus switch operation to minimize inadvertent switching between user interface components such as windows and the like. More specifically, in response to user input to move a pointer from the display region of a first user interface component to the display region of a second user interface component, the second user interface component is promoted to a higher layer than the first user interface component so long as n...

A method and apparatus for use with a computer having a graphical user interface, including a desktop, displayed on a computer screen. The system is designed for controlling the execution of a computer application program, and the relative position of a window associated with said application along a z-axis defined as extending perpendicular to the surface of the computer screen. The invention includes a new graphical user interface element in the form of a handle positioned along a peripheral e...

An improved method and system for providing context-sensitive help and interactive search capability in an insurance claims processing system. A help information database may include one or more index tables, one or more header tables and one or more text tables. In one embodiment, the context-sensitive help for a step in processing an insurance claim may be automatically invoked when entering the step. Alternatively, the user may interactively invoke context-sensitive help once the step is disp...

Systems and methods which implement rendition-based graphical layout management techniques are shown. According to an embodiment, desired resizing of items within a program's user interface is managed through a developer graphically describing a plurality of different sized renditions of a desired user interface and other different sized renditions of the user interface being dynamically interpolated and/or extrapolated through operation of the program. According to embodiments, linear interpola...

The concept of windows has been widely used in the technical field of image processing. Since the conventional method was necessary to define the shape of the windows so that one window does not include more than one subject, the algorithm of image processing including determination of the windows became inevitably complicated to require complex hardware. Further, the prior method was difficult to process the images at high speed. According to the present invention, there is provided an image pr...

When a function change key on a keyboard is operated, a key check section detects its operation and sends a function change key code to a function-key-use right changing unit. In response to this code, the unit calculates the window number of a window different from the window currently having the function-key-use right, and notifies a function key notifier that the calculated window is a new window having the function-key-use right. The same unit directs a CRT controller to display a marking fr...