Displaying transparency characteristic aids

[0001] The present application is related to the following co-pending applications, which are filed on even date herewith and incorporated herein by reference:

[0002] (1) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010513US1); and

[0003] (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010514US1);

[0004] (3) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010515US1);

[0005] (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010516US1);

[0006] (5) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010517US1);

[0007] (6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010518US1);

[0008] (7) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010520US1);

[0009] (8) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010521US1);

[0010] (9) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010522US1);

[0011] (10) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010524US1); and

[0012] (11) U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010525US1).

[0013] 1. Technical Field

[0014] The present invention relates in general to computer systems and, in particular, to graphical user interfaces. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to displaying current transparency characteristics of windows in response to an initiating event.

[0015] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0016] Most operating systems provide a graphical user interface (GUI) for controlling a visual computer environment. The GUI represents programs, files, and options with graphical images, such as icons, menus, and dialog boxes on the screen. Graphical items defined within the GUI work the same way for the user in most software because the GUI provides standard software routines to handle these elements and report the user's actions.

[0017] A typical graphical element defined by a GUI is a window or other defined area of a display containing distinguishable text, graphics, video, audio and other information for output. A display area may contain multiple windows associated with a single software program or multiple software programs executing concurrently.

[0018] Often, when multiple graphical objects are displayed concurrently, the graphical objects will overlap. The order in which graphical objects are drawn on top of one another onscreen to simulate depth is typically known as the z-order. Typically, those objects at the top of the z-axis obscure the view of those graphical objects drawn below.

[0019] In some operating systems, a level of transparency or translucency may be applied to graphical objects, and in particular to windows. By applying a level of translucency to upper level windows, lower level windows are visible therethrough. Utilizing translucency is particularly advantageous such that the title bars for multiple levels of windows are visible where the windows overlap.

[0020] According to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. AUS920010518US1), the levels of transparentcy of windows may be adjusted in order to depict resource utilization in association with each window or to depict a current status of the application executing in association with the window. With multiple criteria determining the transparency of windows within a graphical display, it easily becomes confusing to a user what the transparency of each window means; and where the transparency of windows corresponds with a resource usage value, the user may not be able to visibly discern the level with accuracy.

[0021] In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for dynamically displaying transparency characteristics for windows within a display area. In particular, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for dynamically displaying the transparency characteristics of windows, such that the transparency characteristic aids do not obscure the view of other graphics displayed.

[0022] In view of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved computer system.

[0023] It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved graphical user interface.

[0024] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method, system and program for displaying current transparency characteristics of windows in response to an initiating event.

[0025] According to one aspect of the present invention, a user interface is displayed comprising at least one displayable object within a display area controlled by a computer system. A transparency associated with the at least one displayable object is monitored. Responsive to an initiating event, a transparency characteristic aid comprising said monitored transparency is placed within the display area, such that the at least one displayable object is not obscured by the transparency characteristic aid. An initiating event may include a cursor placement, an occurrence of a user-defined event, and a user input. The transparency characteristic aid is preferably transparent and positioned to maximize space remaining in the display area.

[0026] All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.

[0027] The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0028] FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a computer system with which the method, system and program of the present invention may advantageously be utilized;

[0029] FIG. 2 illustrates a graphical representation of a window in which a user has defined initiating events in accordance with the method, system, and program of the present invention;

[0030] FIG. 3 depicts a graphical representation of a display area in which transparency characteristics information is displayed in accordance with the method, system, and program of the present invention; and

[0031] FIG. 4 illustrates a high level logic flowchart of a process and program for initiating the display of transparency characteristic aids in accordance with the method, system, and program of the present invention.

[0032] A method, system, and program for transparently displaying transparency characteristics of windows in response to an initiating event are provided. A transparent display of transparency characteristics may include text, graphics, video, and other displayable objects displayed such that currently placed displayed objects are not obscured. Further, audible outputs may enhance transparency characteristics output.

[0033] A displayable object may include text, icons, video, graphics, windows, or other logical graphical representations displayable within a display area. Displayable objects may be hidden or visible. Further, displayable objects may be layered in a z-order. Moreover, a displayable object may utilize a portion of a display area or may extend across the entirety of a display area. A displayable object may or may not include definable boundaries.

[0034] For purposes of the present invention, transparency characteristics may include, but are not limited to, transparency percentages, alpha levels, criteria utilized to set transparency, z-order, and other characteristics that may be associated with the transparency of a window or other displayable object.

[0035] Transparency characteristics may be dynamically provided in response to an initiating event. For purposes of the present invention, an initiating event may include, but is not limited to, a user directing a cursor over a transparency sensitive region or a user defined event occurring. Preferably, each icon, graphic, window and other displayable object has a transparency sensitive region where if a cursor passes over the region, characteristics of the displayable object are transparently displayed. In addition, a displayable object may have a transparency sensitive region wherein a user is required to input a key entry, voice entry or other input to initiate the transparent display. A user defined event may include a particular input from the user or a transparency threshold that has reached a maximum or minimum defined by the user.

[0036] To depict transparency characteristics, multiple output formats may be utilized, where advantageously each output format utilizes transparency such that other displayed objects are not completely obscured. Output formats may include, but are not limited to, textual output, graphical output, video output, and audible output.

[0037] Transparency is a graphical feature that is particularly advantageous to the present invention when displaying transparency information as a transparency characteristics aid that preferably overlaps other graphical elements to conserve screen space. As will be understood by one skilled in the art, by making a resource aid appear transparent on a computer screen, other elements below the transparency characteristics aid are visible through the resource aid. Further, the transparency of a transparency characteristics aid may be adjusted from opaque to totally transparent.

[0038] Typically, the transparency attribute is stored with color values in an alpha channel. Then, when calculating the appearance of a given pixel, the graphic processor uses the alpha channel values to determine the pixel's color through a process termed alpha blending. Through alpha blending, the process adds a fraction of the color of the transparent object set by the channel value to the color of the displayable object below.

[0039] Mixing the colors together gives the appearance that the displayable object below is seen through a layer of the transparency characteristic aid. In addition to alpha blending, additional shading may be added to create shadows and other graphical images to cue the viewer to the position of the transparency characteristics aid.

[0040] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

[0041] Hardware Overview

[0042] The present invention may be executed in a variety of systems, including a variety of computing systems and electronic devices under a number of different operating systems. In one embodiment of the present invention, the computing system is a portable computing system such as a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a personal digital assistant, a telephone or other electronic computing system that may also incorporate communications features that provide for telephony, enhanced telephony, messaging and information services. However, the computing system may also be, for example, a desktop computer, a network computer, a midrange computer, a server system or a mainframe computer. Therefore, in general, the present invention is preferably executed in a computer system that performs computing tasks such as manipulating data in storage that is accessible to the computer system. In addition, the computer system preferably includes at least one output device and at least one input device.

[0043] Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there is depicted one embodiment of a computer system with which the method, system and program of the present invention may advantageously be utilized. Computer system 10 comprises a bus 22 or other communication device for communicating information within computer system 10, and at least one processing device such as processor 12, coupled to bus 22 for processing information. Bus 22 preferably includes low-latency and high-latency paths that are connected by bridges and controlled within computer system 10 by multiple bus controllers.

[0044] Processor 12 may be a general-purpose processor such as IBM's PowerPC processor that, during normal operation, processes data under the control of operating system and application software stored in a dynamic storage device such as random access memory (RAM) 14 and a static storage device such as Read Only Memory (ROM) 16. The operating system preferably provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to the user. In a preferred embodiment, application software contains machine executable instructions that when executed on processor 12 carry out the operations depicted in the flowchart of FIG. 4 and others described herein. Alternatively, the steps of the present invention might be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwire logic for performing the steps, or by any combination of programmed computer components and custom hardware components.

[0045] The present invention may be provided as a computer program product, included on a machine-readable medium having stored thereon the machine executable instructions used to program computer system 10 to perform a process according to the present invention. The term machine-readable medium as used herein includes any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor 12 or other components of computer system 10 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Common forms of non-volatile media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, magnetic tape or any other magnetic medium, a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM), a digital video disc-ROM (DVD-ROM) or any other optical medium, punch cards or any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which computer system 10 can read and which is suitable for storing instructions. In the present embodiment, an example of non-volatile media is storage device 18. Volatile media includes dynamic memory such as RAM 14. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire or fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 22. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave or infrared data communications.

[0046] Moreover, the present invention may be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program instructions may be transferred from a remote computer such as a server 39 to requesting computer system 10 by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a network link 34 (e.g., a modem or network connection) to a communications interface 32 coupled to bus 22. Communications interface 32 provides a two-way data communications coupling to network link 34 that may be connected, for example, to a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or as depicted herein, directly to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 37. In particular, network link 34 may provide wired and/or wireless network communications to one or more networks.

[0047] ISP 37 in turn provides data communication services through the Internet 38 or other network. Internet 38 may refer to the worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use a particular protocol, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), to communicate with one another. ISP 37 and Internet 38 both use electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital or analog data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on network link 34 and through communication interface 32, which carry the digital or analog data to and from computer system 10, are exemplary forms of carrier waves transporting the information.

[0048] Further, multiple peripheral components may be added to computer system 10. For example, an audio output 28 is attached to bus 22 for controlling audio output through a speaker or other audio projection device. A display 24 is also attached to bus 22 for providing visual, tactile or other graphical representation formats. A keyboard 26 and cursor control device 30, such as a mouse, trackball, or cursor direction keys, are coupled to bus 22 as interfaces for user inputs to computer system 10. Keyboard 26 and cursor control device 30 can control the position of a cursor 43 positioned within a display area 32 of display 24. Display 24 may include both non-transparent surfaces, such as monitors, and transparent surfaces, such as headset glasses or vehicle windshield displays.

[0049] It should be understood that keyboard 26 and cursor control device 30 are examples of multiple types of input devices that may be utilized in the present invention. In alternate embodiments of the present invention, additional input and output peripheral components may be added.

[0050] Transparent Characteristics Context

[0051] With reference now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a graphical representation of a window in which a user has defined initiating events in accordance with the method, system, and program of the present invention. As depicted, a window 80 within a display area contains a keystroke selection 82, a voice command (K) selection 84, and transparency selections 89.

[0052] Keystroke selection 82 is advantageously a keystroke that when entered, initiates display of transparency characteristics associated with the object that a cursor is placed over when the keystroke is detected. By defining keystroke selection 82, a user may control transparency characteristics for windows, icons and other displayable objects that do not include a sensitive region. Alternatively, by indicating keystroke selection 82, a user may specify that display of transparency characteristics requires a keystroke in addition to the position of the cursor.

[0053] Voice command (K) selection 84 is advantageously a voice command, that when entered, initiates display of transparency characteristics associated with the object a cursor is placed over when the voice command is detected. In particular, voice commands may also be utilized to place the cursor in a particular position.

[0054] Transparency selections 89 advantageously specify transparency characteristics settings for windows and other displayable objects. In the present example, when the transparency of a window rises above 90% transparency, then a display of transparency characteristics of that window is initiated. In addition, when memory utilization is utilized as the criteria for adjusting window transparency, then display of a transparency characteristics for depicting the criteria utilized to determine transparency is initiated.

[0055] Referring now to FIG. 3, there is depicted a graphical representation of a display area in which transparency characteristics information is displayed in accordance with the method, system, and program of the present invention. As illustrated, a display area 50 within a display contains a network icon 66. A transparency characteristic aid 68 is displayed in association with network icon 66. Preferably, transparency characteristic aid 68 is transparent such that the view of network icon 66 and other displayable objects are not completely obscured by transparency characteristic aid 68.

[0056] In the present example, transparency characteristic aid 44 is preferably initiated in response to adjusting network icon 66 to greater than 90% transparency. In particular, network icon 66 may adjust in transparency in response to adjustments in network usage, other criteria, or a user specified transparency setting.

[0057] In addition, display area 50 contains windows 52, 54, and 56, each containing sample text. Transparency sensitive regions 58, 60, and 62 are illustrated within the title bar of window 50. In the example, cursor 43 is placed over sensitive region 62. In response to the position of cursor 43, transparency characteristic aid 64 is displayed. In particular, sensitive region 62 is only a limited graphical portion of window 56 such that transparency characteristic aid 64 will only be displayed when cursor 43 is positioned over that portion of window 56.

[0058] In addition, in the example, transparency characteristic aid 68 is depicted in response to memory utilization being a criteria for setting transparency. Advantageously, transparency characteristic aid is illustrated in association with a minimized window icon 70, regardless of whether minimized window icon 70 reflects the current transparency assigned to the application.

[0059] With reference now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a high level logic flowchart of a process and program for initiating the display of transparency characteristic aids in accordance with the method, system, and program of the present invention. As depicted, the process starts at block 100 and thereafter proceeds to block 102.

[0060] Block 102 illustrates a determination as to whether an initiating event has been detected. If an initiating event has not been detected, then the process iterates at block 102. If an initiating event has been detected, then the process passes to block 104.

[0061] Block 104 depicts determining the transparency charateristics for the selected displayable object. Next, block 106 illustrates determining the graphical output format of the transparency characteristics information. In particular, the graphical output format may include multiple shapes and sizes of graphical output blocks. Thereafter, block 108 depicts selecting the display area in association with the displayable object where display of the transparency characteristics information will minimize obscuring the visibility of other displayable objects. Further, block 110 illustrates graphically displaying the transparency characteristics aid within the display area, and the process ends.

[0062] While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.