Patent US4216530A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0147542A2
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A multiple window display system
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1984-10-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2004-10-04
Abstract
Abstract A multiple window display system is provided for displaying data from different applications in a multi-tasking environment. The display system includes plural screen buffers (12, to 12 n ) for storing character codes and attribute codes of data which may be displayed on the display screen. Task selection means (26) selectively couples the output of a single selected one of the plural screen buffers to the character generator (16) and attribute logic (18) at any given time. Address modification means (20, to 20 n , 22, to 22 n ) permits changes to be made in the display windows. The software driver includes screen control blocks (32), window control blocks (34), presentation space control blocks (36), presentation spaces (38), and a screen matrix (40) in system memory. The presentation spaces (38) receive application data for plural windows of the displayable area. Each window defines the whole or a subset of a corresponding presentation space. The screen matrix (40) is mapped to the display screen and filters data from the windows of the presentation spaces to the screen buffer to designate which of the data will be shown in corresponding positions on the display screen.
Inventors
- 👤 Harry Cheselka
- 👤 Jeffrey Stuart Lucash
- 👤 William Doosevelt Vincent
- 👤 Joy Lynn Mann
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 21:19
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09G; G09G5/00; G09G5/22; G09G5/222; G09G5/14
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
131 words
A multiple window display system including a repeatedly scanned display device, a screen buffer (12) having display data element locations mapped directly onto the display areas of the display device and accessing means traversing the display data element locations in synchronism with the traverse of the display areas of the display device and a facility for compiling, from, potentially, a plurality of windows generated independently by individual respective users, an aggregate of data elements to be displayed, characterised in that the compiling facility is controlled by a screen matrix (24,40) having compile control locations mapped directly onto the display areas of the display device and is directly responsive to the contents of the control locations to automatically filter the available data elements from the various windows, display area by display area.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
131 words
A multiple window display system including a repeatedly scanned display device, a screen buffer (12) having display data element locations mapped directly onto the display areas of the display device and accessing means traversing the display data element locations in synchronism with the traverse of the display areas of the display device and a facility for compiling, from, potentially, a plurality of windows generated independently by individual respective users, an aggregate of data elements to be displayed, characterised in that the compiling facility is controlled by a screen matrix (24,40) having compile control locations mapped directly onto the display areas of the display device and is directly responsive to the contents of the control locations to automatically filter the available data elements from the various windows, display area by display area.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
62 words
A display system as claimed in claim 1 wherein there are plural screen buffers (12 1 -12 n ), traversed in synchronism with each other, with the display areas and with the screen matrix, available for assignment to individual users, the filtering in response to the picture matrix contents being performed on the outputs from the various buffers to the display device.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
53 words
A display system as claimed in claim 2 including address generating means (14 1 -14 n ) for simultaneously supplying addresses to each of said plural screen buffers, the address generating means including plural offset means (22 1 22 n ), one for each buffer, for modifying the addresses supplied to that buffer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
70 words
A display system as claimed in claim 3 wherein the task selection memory means is arranged to receive addresses in synchronism with addresses supplied to the plural screen buffers and further includes decoding means (28) for decoding codes generated by the task selection memory means in response to such addresses, the decoding means producing an enable signal for a selected one of the plural screen buffers at any given time.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
94 words
A display system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the picture matrix is maintained in one of the buffers (12 1 ) and its compile control locations may contain either control codes or display data elements, but not both in any one location, the compiling facility being arranged to respond thereto by accepting the picture matrix data element, if stored in the currently accessed control location, or the data element from the indicated other buffer, if a control code is stored in the currently accessed control location in the picture matrix.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
178 words
A display system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 including a character generator and wherein the task selection memory means includes one of the plural screen buffers (121) which is designated as a non-transparent screen buffer, such non-transparent screen buffer having stored therein unique code points which are used to select among the remaining screen buffers, the data in the plural screen buffers being read out in synchronism with refresh addresses supplied thereto,the task selection memory means further comprising decoding means connected to the output of the non-transparent screen buffer for decoding the unique code points and producing an enable signal for a selected one of the plural screen buffers at any given time in response to the decoding of the currently accessed code point and gating means connected to the output of the non-transparent screen buffer and responsive to the decoding means to pass the current output from the non-transparent screen buffer as a character code to the character generator when such output is decoded by the decoding means as not being a code point.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
85 words
A display system as claimed in claim 1 including means (32,34) for establishing user associated presentation spaces (38) in homogeneous storage for receiving display data from the associated user and means for establishing windows in the respective presentation spaces, the compiling facility including control means, responsive to the picture matrix, for controlling the loading of the screen buffer by presentation space selection thus filtering the data from the various windows into the screen buffer and hence compiling the picture actually displayed on the display device.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
73 words
A display system as claimed in claim 7 including at least one additional dedicated screen buffer (12 2 ) of immediate access to one user (PC), the picture matrix mapping, in addition to the data to be loaded into the one screen buffer, which screen buffer is to supply the current output to the display device, the control means enabling only one of the screen buffers for read out at any given time.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
61 words
A display system as claimed in claim 8 in which the window control block means indicate the coordinates and dimensions of each of the windows and means, responsive to the window control blocks, are provided for creating and adjusting, in response to changes in the window control block configuration, the screen matrix and thereby establishing window priority at screen buffer locations.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
32 words
A display system as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 wherein each additional dedicated screen buffer stores display data for the associated user and constitutes the presentation space for that user.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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