United States Patent [19J
`Anthias
`
`I IIIII IIIIIIII Ill lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll 111111111111111111
`US005920311A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,920,311
`Jul. 6, 1999
`
`[54] DISTRIBUTED CLIENT/SERVER WINDOW
`PRESENTATION SYSTEM
`
`[75]
`
`Inventor: Taf Anthias, Ramsey, United Kingdom
`
`[73] Assignee: International Business Machines
`Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/163,416
`
`[22] Filed:
`
`Dec. 6, 1993
`
`[30]
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`
`Dec. 22, 1992
`
`[GB]
`
`United Kingdom ................... 9226706
`
`Int. Cl.6
`...................................................... G06F 13/00
`[51]
`[52] U.S. Cl. ............................................. 345/329; 345/340
`[58] Field of Search ..................................... 395/155-161,
`395/153, 200.31, 200.33, 200.47; 345/119,
`120,329,335,339,340,342,343
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,642,790
`4,651,146
`4,665,501
`
`....................... 345/341
`2/1987 Minshull et al.
`3/1987 Lucash et al. .......................... 345/340
`5 /1987 Sal din et al. ... ... ... ... ... .... ... ... ... 395 /828
`
`4,782,463
`4,845,644
`4,954,966
`5,175,813
`5,461,716
`
`11/1988 Sanders et al. ... ... .... ... ... ... ... ... 395 /701
`7/1989 Anthias et al.
`......................... 345/343
`9/1990 Mooney et al.
`........................ 345/341
`12/1992 Golding et al. ......................... 345/340
`10/1995 Eagen et al. ............................ 345/340
`
`Primary Examiner-Matthew M. Kim
`Assistant Examiner----Crescelle N. dela Torre
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Douglas H. Lefeve; Thomas E.
`Tyson; J. B. Kraft
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`This invention addresses the management of window geom(cid:173)
`etry ( or layout) in a distributed data processing system. In
`this invention, a client server model includes an application
`executing on a client system with graphics being drawn on
`the server system for the end user. Each client application
`interacts with the user by defining client windows into which
`are placed graphical data and where input data may be
`entered by the user. The application software together with
`the graphics software is provided in the client processor. The
`server processor includes the ability to display data to the
`end user. The application data for display, in the form of a
`window, includes a special designated area within the win(cid:173)
`dow to provide user access to the application.
`
`2 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`SHARED
`DATA
`
`LAN DATA
`SERVER
`
`5
`
`10a
`
`20a
`
`10b
`
`CLIENT
`APPLICATION
`MOOE$
`
`DISPLAY SERVER NODES
`
`Ralph Lauren Corp., Exhibit 1005 Page 1
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 6, 1999
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
`
`5,920,311
`
`s
`
`SHARED
`DATA
`
`LAN DATA
`SERVER
`
`100
`
`10b
`
`CLIENT
`APPLICATION
`-+-~"'"*"~~ MOOES
`
`DISPLAY SERVER NODES
`
`Fl G. 1
`
`DISPLAY SERVER
`30b
`
`300
`
`• t
`F1•Hel
`4
`
`D
`
`Title • •
`t
`CJ
`I
`0
`
`FMielp D I
`Do +
`
`20b
`
`OTHER
`CONTROLS--
`
`Ill
`
`•
`
`t
`
`ENTRY FIELD
`
`TOP LEVEL
`WINDOWS
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Ralph Lauren Corp., Exhibit 1005 Page 2
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 6, 1999
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
`
`5,920,311
`
`CLIENT NOOE
`
`APPLICATION
`A
`
`APPLICATION
`B
`
`APPLICATION
`C
`
`so -r--
`
`OPM
`ROUTER
`
`60 _.,...-
`
`SERVER
`55 _...-r-- fNPUT
`QUEUE
`
`10./ TLPB
`
`SERVER NOOE
`
`GRAPHICS
`ENGINE
`
`~-80
`
`,r
`
`FIG. 3
`
`Ralph Lauren Corp., Exhibit 1005 Page 3
`
`

`

`5,920,311
`
`1
`DISTRIBUTED CLIENT/SERVER WINDOW
`PRESENTATION SYSTEM
`
`2
`overheads in the server, as well as unnecessary network
`traffic to create and modify these application windows.
`
`DESCRIPTION
`
`SUMMARY OF IBE INVENTION
`
`5
`
`Viewed from one aspect, the present invention provides a
`data processing system comprising: a remote processor and
`associated memory coupled to a local processor and asso(cid:173)
`ciated memory; the remote processor including means for
`executing a plurality of application programs and sending
`10 window display data generated by the application programs
`to the local processor, the local processor including means
`for receiving the window display data and drawing the data
`as respective application windows, each containing one or
`more sub area windows within their perimeter, and where the
`15 application programs designate one or more of the subarea
`windows as an action field through which a user may access
`the respective application program, and is characterized in
`that display data common to both an application window and
`a corresponding action field is stored in the memory asso-
`20 ciated with the local processor and remaining display data is
`stored in the memory associated with the remote processor.
`In accordance with the present invention, much of the
`information for a specific window can be managed entirely
`within the client presentation layer (for example, style
`25 information, callback addresses, etc.). The invention recog(cid:173)
`nizes that not all windows generated in a client application
`program need to be externalized to the server. Only those for
`which the server needs to perform some different processing
`need to be externalized. An advantage of this approach is
`30 that it leads to a reduction in the network traffic necessary to
`create and modify application windows. A further advantage
`is the reduction in storage requirements and processing
`overheads in the server system.
`
`1. Technical Field
`The present invention relates to distributed data process(cid:173)
`ing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to
`management of the window geometry (or layout) in a
`distributed client/server presentation system.
`2. Background of the Invention
`In a distributed data processing system, a computer user
`typically interacts with a local computer terminal which is
`known as the server system. The server system is connected
`functionally, by means of a communications network, to a
`remote data processing system which is known as the client
`system. The server system is not necessarily situated any
`great distance from the client system. An example of such a
`distributed data processing system is a PC workstation and
`host processor in a local area network where the client
`processing system and the workstation server are in the same
`building or possibly even the same office. A server system
`may also be connected to more than one client system.
`In known distributed data processing systems in which an
`application is operating on the client system and correspond(cid:173)
`ing graphics data is being drawn on the server system (where
`the end user is), the client application interacts with the user
`by defining client windows into which is placed graphical
`data and from which input entered by the user is received.
`An example of such input is mouse movement events when
`the mouse-pointer/cursor is in the window. The graphics
`input and output capability is provided by the server pre(cid:173)
`sentation system. The presentation system of a computer
`system is the layer of the architecture that provides the
`functions that may be selected by the application layer such 35
`as exchange, display and control of structured data. The
`server provides the support in the end-user node to process
`drawing and other requests for output and to direct the
`generated input to the correct place. The server may be
`interfacing with a number of client systems as the user may 40
`be executing applications which reside on a number of
`connected client nodes. The server needs to have sufficient
`understanding of the way the output area of the screen is
`used to allow clients to receive input and coordinate their
`drawing on to the appropriate local server terminal.
`When the user moves the mouse (or cursor), a mouse (or
`cursor) event is generated. As the server may be used by a
`number of client nodes, it is not possible to route an (x, y)
`value to a client windowing component unless the server can 50
`identify that this client node owns the relevant part of the
`display. Clearly, the server needs to have some understand(cid:173)
`ing of the window geometry. For example, it needs to know
`to which client system to send a specific mouse-generated
`event. Usually this would be the client system which owned 55
`that part of the screen where the pointer/cursor is.
`There are other factors which require the server to have
`some understanding of the display window geometry. For
`example, in the case of overlapping windows, when a
`window is deleted by a client, other clients need to be told 60
`when and in which regions they need to repaint the data
`uncovered as a result of the deletion.
`In known presentation systems such as X-Windows,
`which is a presentation system of the UNIX (registered
`trademark of Unix Systems Laboratories, Inc.) operating
`system software, the entire window geometry is stored in the
`server. This leads to unnecessary storage and processing
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
`
`In order that the invention may be fully understood, a
`preferred embodiment thereof will now be described, by
`way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
`drawings in which:
`FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a distributed data
`processing system;
`FIG. 2 shows an example of the screen display of a server
`node showing windows and corresponding device areas; and
`FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a
`distributed data processing system.
`
`45
`
`BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE
`INVENTION
`FIG. 1 shows an example of a distributed data processing
`system. The client nodes are indicated at 10a and 10b and
`the server nodes are indicated at 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d. Each
`of the client nodes are running three applications respec(cid:173)
`tively. It can be seen that server node 20b is accessing an
`application on each of the client nodes. The resulting display
`from application C is displayed in window 30a on the
`display server node 20b and the resulting display of appli(cid:173)
`cation D is displayed in 30b. The LAN server 5 is used by
`each client node to access shared data.
`The applications (A, B, C, D, E, F) define client appli-
`cation windows (e.g., 30a, 30b). The client presentation
`system only externalizes to the server the minimum needed
`for it to carry out its responsibilities. The client presentation
`system holds all other data required for drawing the main
`65 application windows 30a, 30b.
`The server maintains the window geometry in a list of
`device areas. This terminology is used to distinguish them
`
`Ralph Lauren Corp., Exhibit 1005 Page 4
`
`

`

`3
`from windows (such as 30a and 30b) as seen by the
`applications. A typical server screen display showing appli(cid:173)
`cation windows and corresponding device areas is shown in
`FIG. 2. A device area is a subarea window displayed within
`an application window and which is designated by the
`application program as an action field through which a user
`may write to the application.
`Compared to an application window, a device area is a
`light-weight structure in that only a minimal amount of
`attribute data is required for it to be drawn on the screen. It
`is similar to a window but contains only a portion of the
`window information. Device areas are maintained in a
`priority ordered list, not a hierarchy, in the server. In
`comparison with the prior art, the server overheads in both
`processing time and storage requirements are reduced as the
`complete set of application window data is not stored at the
`server. The order of the device areas in the ordered list
`changes when the priority of a device area changes, e.g.,
`when overlapping windows are redrawn in a different order
`by the client system so that a window which previously
`overlapped another window becomes itself overlapped.
`Preferably, device areas are not used for drawing into by
`applications running on the client system. The separation of
`input-related and output-related window geometry allows
`many optimizations to take place. The server only needs the
`device areas once the data is drawn to the display.
`With the approach described herein, it can be seen that
`both the number of windowing areas and the contents of a
`windowing area are reduced.
`A pointer/cursor can be associated with a device area. The
`server responds to mouse movement by redrawing the 30
`associated pointer when the mouse x, y value falls within the
`device area.
`Device areas are allocated for all top-level windows so as
`to allow routing to the appropriate client node when the
`input is entered into that part of the display by the user. 35
`Allocating device areas for each control in a dialog is
`unnecessary if there is no difference in what the server will
`do as a result. For example, input would go to the same node
`as the parent top-level window, the default system pointer
`may be used for all controls in the dialog and repainting can 40
`be handled by the client system driving the appropriate
`window painting procedures.
`Device areas are shown in FIG. 2 at 40a and 40b. The
`device area structure contains the following data:
`x, y, ex, cy (position and size in screen coordinates)
`input interest settings (e.g., mouse move required)
`pointer handle for device area
`handle of client connection
`handle of save bits data (backing store).
`FIG. 3 shows schematically the structure of the client and
`server systems of a distributed data processing system. In
`this diagram, it is assumed that the server is remote to the
`client system. The client system 10a contains the entire
`application (A, B. C). The application message queue 50 55
`resides in the client and is updated by the client presentation
`system from input received via the server input queue 55 and
`from messages generated on client nodes. The client system
`interfaces (via the presentation system router) with the
`server system. The data sent between client and server 60
`presentation systems is known as the presentation system
`protocol. The transport mechanism is the Transport Layer
`Protocol Boundary (TLPB) 70.
`The majority of protocol requests are handled by the
`graphics engine component 80 of the server, which inter- 65
`faces with the display device driver to output graphics data
`to the display.
`
`45
`
`50
`
`5,920,311
`
`5
`
`4
`The steps taken in the creation of a device area in a
`distributed data processing system are shown in Table 2.
`First of all, the main window, such as 30a of FIG. 2, is
`created in the client system. At this stage, the data required
`to draw the main window on the screen of the server is stored
`in the client system. This data includes such attributes as
`window size, position, color, fonts, addresses, etc. A device
`area is then defined in the client presentation system. This
`10 device area is associated with the frame of the main window.
`The information necessary to define a device area is much
`less than that required to define a main window. In a
`preferred embodiment of the present invention, five data
`fields (shown in Table 1) are necessary to define a device
`15 area, whereas about 200 are required to define a main
`window. Next, the client presentation system associates a
`particular cursor type with the device area. Preferably the
`cursor type which will appear in the device area when it is
`20 displayed on the screen of the server node is different from
`the cursor type which will appear in other parts of the
`window associated with that device area. The cursor will
`change shape (or color or flashing frequency) as it passes
`from the background window areas to the device area. One
`25 reason for this cursor change is to indicate to a user that the
`cursor has entered an entry field of the window. More device
`areas are then created by the client presentation system as
`required.
`
`TABLE 1
`
`DEVICE AREA CREATION IN CLIENT
`
`CLIENT
`APPLICATION
`SYSTEM
`
`CLIENT
`PRESENTATION
`SYSTEM
`
`SERVER
`PRESENTATION
`SYSTEM
`
`create main
`window
`(window data)
`
`create dialogue
`sub windows
`(buttons, list
`boxes, input
`fields)
`
`( only a subset of
`window info is
`needed for the
`device area)
`
`define device
`area for frame
`associate standard
`cursor with device
`area
`
`scan subwindows for
`variations from main
`window
`For text input fields
`requiring special
`cursor define device
`area to request server
`to change cursor -
`similarly for other
`windows requiring
`variation
`send device areas to
`server
`
`Draw subwindows into
`main window
`
`process user
`input ac-
`cording to
`device area
`geometry
`
`Ralph Lauren Corp., Exhibit 1005 Page 5
`
`

`

`5,920,311
`
`5
`
`TABLE 2
`
`DEVICE AREA CREATION IN CLIENT
`
`CLIENT
`APPLICATION
`SYSTEM
`
`CLIENT
`PRESENTATION
`SYSTEM
`
`SERVER
`PRESENTATION
`SYSTEM
`
`(Subwindows not
`externalized to
`server as device
`areas appear like
`pure graphics)
`
`For input device
`(e.g., mouse
`movement) examine
`device area list
`to find device
`area for new x, y
`position. Change
`to new cursor if
`necessary. For
`input keys,
`generate host in-
`put for client
`system owning
`device areas.
`
`5
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`Dialogue windows are created in the client system. These
`subwindows are scanned for variations by the presentation
`system of the client system. The client presentation system
`then defines a device screen to request the server to change
`the cursor for text input fields which require a special cursor.
`If, after a check, there are no more variations from the main
`window, the data representing the device areas is sent to the
`server by the client presentation system. The remaining data
`representing the main window is retained by the client 30
`system. The subwindows are drawn into the main window.
`Any user input is then processed by the server presentation
`system.
`
`25
`
`6
`
`We claim:
`1. A data processing system comprising:
`a display terminal,
`a local processor connected to said display terminal and
`connected to a local processor memory,
`a remote processor connected to said local processor and
`connected to a remote processor memory,
`said remote processor including means for executing a
`plurality of application programs and means for send(cid:173)
`ing window display data generated by said application
`programs to said local processor,
`said local processor including means for receiving said
`window display data and drawing respective applica(cid:173)
`tion windows, each of said application windows con(cid:173)
`taining at least one subarea window within its
`perimeter,
`said application programs designating at least one of said
`subarea windows as an action field through which a
`user may access a respective application program,
`means for storing said respective application program
`window display data common to both one of said
`application windows and said corresponding action
`field in the local processor memory, and
`means for storing window display data defining a remain(cid:173)
`ing portion of said one of said application windows
`outside said subarea designating said action field, in the
`remote processor memory.
`2. A data processing system as claimed in claim 1 wherein
`user input data for an application program is entered in one
`of the action fields and is sent from the local processor to the
`remote processor for execution.
`
`* * * * *
`
`Ralph Lauren Corp., Exhibit 1005 Page 6
`
`