Abstract: A visual development system having an interface which assists a user with input of source code expressions and statements during creation of a computer program is described. The interface includes an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) interface having a code editor with “Code Completion” and “Code Parameter” features for displaying context sensitive pop-up windows within a source code file. Code Completion is implemented at the user interface level by displaying a Code Completion dialog box after the user enters a record or class name followed by a period. For a class, the dialog lists the properties, methods and events appropriate to the class. For a record or structure, the dialog lists the data members of the record. To complete entry of the expression, the user need only select an item from the dialog list, whereupon the system automatically enters the selected item in the code. Code completion also operates during input of assignment statements.

Abstract: A system and method for producing context sensitive prompts to assist the user with entry and editing of formulae in an electronic spreadsheet comprises a display device, a processing unit, an input device and memory. The display device preferably has a plurality of segregated viewports for displaying a general prompt and a context sensitive prompt. The memory further comprises function tables, a prompt generator, a prompt stack, and other routines. The prompt generator uses the function tables, the prompt stack, the cursor position and the string on the edit line to construct prompts for presentation on the display device.

Abstract: System and methods are described for integrating the navigational semantic model of PC DBMS environments into the set-oriented model of SQL database environments. More particularly, a Client/Server system of the present invention provides native navigational support on the Server side, without emulation through a multitude of SQL commands from the Client. The Database Server surfaces to the Client an API (Application Programming Interface) having calls corresponding to each verb taken from a navigational context. The Server, in turn, is modified to include knowledge of how to process each navigational verb. To support this functionality, the indexing of the Server is modified to provide bi-directional scrolling. In this manner, the system is able to provide more efficient, higher performance navigational support in an SQL database context.

Abstract: A database system with methodology providing "live" views of a database is described. In response to a user request (e.g., query) to display information from the database according to user-specified criteria, the system registers and displays a view (e.g., user-designed form and/or report); multiple views may be opened in this manner. In response to receiving one or more modifications to information stored in the database, the system employs incremental queries to maintain the "liveness" of the views. In particular, each registered view is notified of the modification (i.e., specific modified data records) and undertakes to apply the user-specified criteria for the particular view only against the modification.

Abstract: An electronic spreadsheet system of the present invention includes a notebook interface having a plurality of notebook pages, each of which may contain a spread of information cells, or other desired page type (e.g., Graphs page). The system includes a spreadsheet application development module having a user interface (UI) builder. The UI builder provides "live" links between system objects. In particular, link commands are provided as statements a developer may attach to a control to indicate what should happen when an end-user activates or changes the control. Link commands usually specify three things: an event, an action, and an object. The event indicates what occurrence should trigger the link command; the action indicates what should happen. The object is what should be acted upon. One control can have many link commands. In operation, a link command can send a value to a cell in the notebook, run a macro, close a dialog box, change the zoom factor in the notebook, or the like.

Abstract: A computer system having a Visual Development Environment (VDE) is described. The Visual Development Environment includes an interface having a Component Inspector, Component Manager, Component Library, and one or more visual editors. In operation, a user constructs a program by selecting one or more components from the Library, which displays components in a tabbed palette. Using a visual editor of the system, the user may drill-down into the internals of a component, for modifying its logic. Once the functionality of a component is completed, the user may proceed to connect together various components via the component "ports", which allow access to properties of the component. Components of the system may be nested within other components to an arbitrary level.

Abstract: Client/server system and methods are described for providing a "cache range" to database clients. When one or more records in a cache range of a client change, a server in connection with the client sends a notification that the cache range has changed. Instead of the client taking a lock out for updating a record, the client simply indicates to the server which records it is interested in (e.g., via registering an event alerter request), whereupon the server manages its resources as necessary to notify the client of a change in one of the records which is of interest to the client. The server can simply take out "interest" locks on the corresponding records; these are not locks which exclude the resource from other clients. Other clients are not prevented from accessing this resource (i.e., the records which are of interest). The interest lock is employed in conjunction with the registered event alerter for notifying the client when a range of records of interest is updated by another client.

Abstract: The system of the present invention comprises a development system having an Expression Builder for assisting a user with creating an expression. With full syntax checking enabled, the user builds an expression in "token" mode. As the user enters each token element, the system attempts to validate the expression and, if the expression is valid, displays the result. If the expression is incomplete or invalid, however, the system displays a message explaining what is needed. The Expression Builder of the present invention employs placeholders or "proxies" for representing elements in an expression which should be replaced before the expression is valid. The expression is dynamically adjusted during user editing as required to maintain expression validity. In this manner, the user is provided with in situ assistance in constructing syntactically-correct expressions.

Abstract: The present invention includes a Computer-based Training system (CBT) having one or more Application Translation Units (ATUs), a Message Engine, and a Script Engine. For one or more target applications of interest, an ATU is provided for processing events specific to that application, thereby trapping events and translating them into abstract messages or "meta-messages" for conveying information about a particular event to the system. A computer-aided software testing embodiment of the present invention is also described. The system provides prefabricated building blocks for constructing a high-level model of an application's User Interface (UI). This high-level model serves as a middle ground between test scripts and the application being tested. The knowledge of how a given UI element is controlled or how it can be observed is retained in the model rather than in a test script. Consequently, the test script consists of easy-to-maintain, high-level testing commands only.

Abstract: A system of the present invention includes a relational database management system (RDBMS) having a hypertext report writing module. Methods are described for automatically recognizing relations between reports which are generated from the same or related database tables. The system automatically embeds (or assists the user in embedding) appropriate hypertext links so that information from one report may be cross-referenced immediately with information in another, related report. Drill-down hypertext reports of increasing level of detail are illustrated. In addition to drill-down reports, the system may create comprehensive hypertext reports for automatically tying together information which is related through underlying table relations but which ordinarily appears in different reports. By automatically placing hypertext links or cross-indexes between reports, the system ties together relatable information into a single, cross-indexed hypertext report.

Abstract: A Java-based rapid application development (RAD) environment for creating applications providing named-based programmatic access to information from columns in databases is described. For increasing the efficiency by which named-based references to database columns are processed by application programs, the system provides methodology for rapid lookups of column names, using a reference cache storing 32-bit references to immutable strings (e.g., Java strings). The reference cache is preferably constructed as a least-recently allocated cache, thereby allowing allocation to occur in a round-robin fashion, with the oldest item allocated being the first item bumped from cache when the cache overflows. Each cache entry stores a reference (e.g., four-byte pointer or handle to a string) and an ordinal entry (i.e. the corresponding database ordinal).

Abstract: An electronic spreadsheet system of the present invention includes a notebook interface having a plurality of notebook pages, each of which may contain a spread of information cells, or other desired page type (e.g., Graphs page). Methods are provided for rapidly accessing and processing information on the different pages, including displaying a plurality of page identifiers for selecting individual pages, and further including a preferred syntax for referencing information. Additional methods are provided for editing cells and blocks of cells.

Abstract: A user interface technique for applying attributes to screen objects. The user selects a screen object, and causes the display of a dialog box for changing an attribute of the screen object. The dialog box includes an attribute palette or other controls used for setting attributes, as known in the art, but also includes a sample box in which a replica of the selected screen object (or a portion thereof) is displayed. The user then takes the actions necessary to select the desired attribute, in response to which the replica in the sample box is updated with the desired attribute. Once the user is satisfied with this previewed result, the user can accept the changes by clicking in the "OK" button or reject the changes by clicking in the "Cancel" button.

Abstract: A system for creation and completion of goal oriented electronic forms creates a graphical image data file which defines: a graphical image of a form for display and printing; a graphical image of tree branches, tree nodes, and conclusions in association with fields of the form; reading and writing links between form fields and data sources and destinations; and links to other forms which, with the original form, comprise a related stack of forms. The system includes a form creation mode and a run time mode. The trees are defined by an application developer using the form creation mode to establish both qualitative and quantitative relationships between the various fields on the forms thereby providing the basis for the goal oriented prompting for the application user using the run time mode.

Abstract: A system for creation and completion of goal oriented electronic forms creates a graphical image data file which defines: a graphical image of a form for display and printing; a graphical image of tree branches, tree nodes, and conclusions in association with fields of the form; reading and writing links between form fields and data sources and destinations; and links to other forms which, with the original form, comprise a related stack of forms. The system includes a form creation mode and a run time mode. The trees are defined by an application developer using the form creation mode to establish both qualitative and quantitative relationships between the various fields on the forms thereby providing the basis for the goal oriented prompting for the application user using the run time mode.

Abstract: A system of the present invention includes a development system having a language compiler for generating application and system software from source listings. The system includes an Integrated Development Environment having a browser. Methods of the present invention include inspecting symbols (e.g., classes, objects, methods, variables, and the like) dynamically, i.e., while retaining active scope of the symbol. More particularly, the browser of the present invention directly references symbol information stored in object code or executable modules, which are generated during compilation of the source listings. In this manner, the system provides symbol information directly relevant to the context (location in source listing) the user/programmer is currently working.

Abstract: A client/server system providing methods of utilizing information stored locally on a client even after the client has modified data on the server is described. A client stores data from the server in a local "read-only" buffer(s), to speed up access to the data and reduce network traffic. Since the buffer is treated as a "read only" buffer, no locks are taken out at the server by the client. Accesses to particular data records are satisfied by looking first to the local buffer or cache. The client may proceed to modify the data records and commit changes back to the server. Moreover, the client updates or "writes through" the "read-only" buffer(s) with the changes so that the local buffer remains valid. The methods of updating data stored locally on the client provide significant performance increases as the client does not have to refresh data from the server.

Abstract: A database management system of the present invention includes a computer having a memory and a processor, a database for storing information in the memory as field values in a record, an indexing component for referencing a plurality of records by a value of the field(s), an input device for selecting desired records by entering a range of values corresponding to the field(s) (indexed on), and a component for accessing the desired records as an order set, where only records having a value within said range are included within the set. System and methods are also described for optimizing the access of information from the database management system.

Abstract: A development system providing a property-method-event programming (PME) model for developing context-free reusable software components is described. Despite the absence of any C++ language support for events, the present invention provides a type-safe "wiring" mechanism--one using standard C++ to dispatch an event, raised by one object (the "event source"), to a method of another object (the "event sink"), with the requirement that the event source does not need to know the class of the event sink. As a result, the system allows developers to create C++ software components which can be connected together without the components having to know anything about the makeup of the component to which it is connected. Thus, developers can create pre-packaged, re-usable software components which can simply be "plugged into" a design--all accomplished within the confines of the standard C++ programming language (i.e., without having to employ proprietary extensions).