Abstract: A link manager for a computer system including data objects and application programs for performing operations on the data objects wherein container objects contain references to linked data residing in server objects and including a link mechanism for invoking a server application program for providing linked data to a presentation window. The link manager includes a reference selector selecting a single reference to linked data in a container object and a moniker generator to generate a moniker identifying a server object containing the linked data. The link mechanism responds to the moniker pointer by invoking a server application program to open the server object and provide the linked data to the presentation window. Each reference includes a file name and a path name and a search mechanism determines the server object directory path, which is used in generating the moniker.

Abstract: An alarm guard for use with an alarm signaling device that is installed to meet Underwriter laboratories (UL) 1971 requirements and that includes a chassis mountable to a surface and a visual signaling element mounted on an outer face of the chassis and extending therefrom to be activated to indicate a hazardous condition. The alarm guard includes a mesh chassis guard enclosing at least four sides of the chassis and a visual indicator guard including a plurality of guard elements mounted to the chassis guard adjacent the visual signaling element. The guard elements may be comprised of straight and curved segments and extend from the outer face of the chassis and are spaced apart along the vertical and horizontal faces of the visual signaling element to provide vertical and horizontal openings sufficient to provide a required emitted light pattern in each plane of light emission.

Abstract: A method enables a dithered representation of an image to be converted to a continuous tone representation of the image. This undithering method compares the regions of dithered representation with sections of dither patterns to determine an appropriate continuous tone representation from which the dithered image could have resulted. When the continuous tone representation is found the region is converted into a continuous tone representation. This procedure may be spatially iterated on a pixel by pixel basis until all of the initial representation of the image is converted into a continuous tone representation. The procedure may also be modified to account for line art. Furthermore, the procedure may be applied to produce adjustments in the size of the picture including miniaturizations and enlargements of the original image. In accordance with this application, dithered portions of the original image are redithered in a manner to produce a alternative size output image.

Abstract: An apparatus for generating an index for a collection of words, the apparatus including means for selecting an input word from the collection of words; means for generating words that are lexically related to the input word, wherein the input word and the lexically related words form a group of words; and an indexing engine for representing the occurrence in the collection of words of any of the members of the group by a single member of the group.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing access to database data by applications programs executing on a computer system wherein a database bucket mechanism is interposed between one or more application programs and one or more databases. The bucket mechanism is comprised of an applications interface communicating with each of the applications programs in their native modes and a bucket engine generating "buckets" containing "bucket objects". Each bucket represents a group or class of database data members and contains one or more bucket data objects containing members of the databases, a database object mapping the bucket data object to the databases and an access object containing methods for accessing the databases in their native modes. Buckets and bucket data objects are constructed by the bucket engine according to information stored in an object map and a table map.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for constructing a resultant database from a first database and a second database wherein data to appear in the resultant database is present in modified form in the first and second databases. A user selects from the first database at least one construction property to be used in constructing the resultant database wherein there is partial congruence of the at least one construction property between the first, second and resultant databases and from the first and second databases at least two modeling properties wherein there is partial congruence of the at least two modeling properties between the first, second and resultant databases. An inclusion probability processor assigns an inclusion probability, to each one of the data records of the first database containing the selected construction and modeling properties.

Abstract: A layered communications bridge mechanism connected between an upper communications layer of a first communications layer mechanism executing in a user level process and a layered communication kernel process of a second system corresponding to the next lower layers of the first communications layer mechanism. The bridge includes an upper bridge mechanism operating to appear to the lowest layer or the layers of the first communications layer mechanism to be the next lower layer of the first layered communications mechanism and a lower bridge mechanism operating to appear to the upper communications layer of the second system kernel process to be the next higher layer of the communications layers of the second system and the upper and lower bridge mechanisms operate to map between the operations of the lower layer of the first communications layer mechanism and the upper layer of the layered communications layers of the second system.

Abstract: A regeneration chamber for promoting and controlling the growth of biological nerves, including a chamber enclosing and defining a volume in which biological nerves are to be grown, an input port for injecting agents for promoting and controlling the growth of the biological nerves into the chamber, and an output port for receiving agents and biological nerve growth byproducts from the chamber. The input port and chamber have at least one input passage therebetween for the flow of agents from the input port into the chamber and the output port and chamber have at least one output passage therebetween for the flow of agents and biological growth byproducts from the chamber into the output port. The input and output passages are proportioned to reduce increases and decreases in pressure in the chamber and a chamber may have a plurality of input ports and output ports.

Abstract: A memory translation mechanism and method executing in a second system to perform first system memory operations for first system executive and user tasks executing on the second system which includes a second system memory organized as a plurality of memory segments, wherein first memory segments are designated to correspond to system memory areas and second memory segments are designated to correspond to user memory areas, and wherein each memory segment corresponds to a combination of a type of first system task and a type of a first system memory area. An interpreter maps by reading an identification of the type of the task corresponding to the first system virtual address from the task type memory and the area type value from the first system virtual address and determining a memory segment corresponding to the type of the first system task and the type of first system area referenced by the first system virtual address.

Abstract: A commuications control system for distributing execution of communication connecting among the service access points of a local multiprocessor computer system and remote computer systems interconnected by a communications network. A load balancing module includes a local user list for storing the number of communications connections being executed by each local access point and a remote user list for storing the number of communication connections between each local service access point in the local computer system and each remote service access point.

Abstract: The subject invention is directed to a database system for organizing large amounts of data to be accessed by a digital computer. More particularly, a free form type database, in the form of a summarized, multikey tree, is built from files stored on the computer. After a building operation, the user obtains specified information by using the summarized database. Information in the files is divided into three categories; that is, a dimension field which comprises data to be organized, a summary field which comprises a numeric quantity on which calculations can be performed, and a non-summary field which comprises other information associated with an input record. The internal nodes of the tree summarize and organize sets of input records. Methods are provided for reducing the amount of storage space used by cutting off the tree when the size of sets go below a given threshold, and sharing parts of the tree so that each record does not appear n! times in the database.

Abstract: A communications control system in a multi-processor system includes a connection distribution data structure, including, for each central processing unit, a connection count means for storing a number representing the number of communication connections currently being executed by the corresponding central processing unit, and a gate driver interface service module. The gate driver interface service module is a single task resident in the computer system memory with an active invocation in a single central processing unit of the processing system. The gate driver interface service module responds to each request by selecting the central processing unit presently executing the least number of communication connections, and assigning the communication connection to the central processing unit for execution by constructing a corresponding control block containing the identification of the central processing unit assigned to execute the communication operation.

Abstract: The subject invention is directed to a database system for organizing large amounts of data to be accessed by a digital computer. More particularly, a free form type database, in the form of a summarized, multikey tree, is built from files stored on the computer. After a building operation, the user obtains specified information by using the summarized database. Information in the files is divided into three categories; that is, a dimension field which comprises data to be organized, a summary field which comprises a numeric quantity on which calculations can be performed, and a non-summary field which comprises other information associated with an input record. The internal nodes of the tree summarize and organize sets of input records. Methods are provided for reducing the amount of storage space used by cutting off the tree when the size of sets go below a given threshold, and sharing parts of the tree so that each record does not appear n! times in the database.

Abstract: The subject invention is directed to a database system for organizing large amounts of data to be accessed by a digital computer. More particularly, a free form type database, in the form of a summarized, multikey tree, is built from files stored on the computer. After a building operation, the user obtains specified information by using the summarized database. Information in the files is divided into three categories; that is, a dimension field which comprises data to be organized, a summary field which comprises a numeric quantity on which calculations can be performed, and a non-summary field which comprises other information associated with an input record. The internal nodes of the tree summarize and organize sets of input records. Methods are provided for reducing the amount of storage space used by cutting off the tree when the size of sets go below a given threshold, and sharing parts of the tree so that each record does not appear n! times in the database.

Abstract: A method of searching the directory of a database, held in the store of an information processing system, to identify an entry in the directory which most closely matches a search entry, each of said directory entries containing first, second and third fields, said search entry containing at least a first field, and each of said fields having the capability of including multiple parts: wherein the set of all directory entries which have the first part of the first field thereof the same as the first part of the first field of the search entry are retrieved from the directory; wherein all parts of the first field of each entry of said set are compared with a similar number of parts of the search entry and according to the degree of match of such comparison, a respective value is calculated for such degree of match; wherein similar comparisons are made between the second and third fields, if any, of each entry of the set and the search entry; and wherein the highest of such calculated values indicates the direc

Abstract: Method for debugging and testing the correctness of programs, comprising the loading in a data processing system of a monitoring program, of at least a source program to be testing and of at least an object program achieved by the source program through a preprocessing which includes, at each executable program row, a call to a control routine, in the independent activation of a monitoring process based on the monitoring program and of a process to be tested, based on the object program, the two processes interacting by use of message queues.

Abstract: In a data processing system having an electronic mail system for sending documents from a first user to a recipient user and, for each user, a means for creating and editing documents, the documents having differing formats, a method for converting a document having a first format into a document having a second format preferred by the recipient user, using a table of user document format preferences and a document format conversion facility. The user preference table contains, for each user, an entry specifying the document format preferred by the user, and appended to each document to be sent to a recipient user is a tag which includes a field specifying the user to receive the document, and a field specifying the first format of the document.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for operating directly with the program code of a process for determining the gradients of process variables of interest with respect to process parameters. Each process will contain one or more process variable declarations wherein each process variable declaration defines a process variable. There will also be one or more process function assignments associated with each process variable, wherein each process function assignment assigns a value to the associated process variable. One or more gradient variables will be introduced into the process for each process variable of interest, wherein each gradient variable corresponds to and represents the partial derivative, or gradient, of the process variable of interest with respect to a parameter whose value affects the value of the process variable of interest.

Abstract: A queue manager for controlling the execution of requests for the transport of messages from users to destinations. Each request includes a message and an identification of a destination. The queue manager includes a queue for storing pending requests and a dispatcher task for creating a worker task to execute each request and provides a method for adapting the execution of requests to constraints and characteristics of destinations and communications links.

Abstract: In a distributed, multi-node system for communicating between a plurality of distributed terminals and one or more central computers, some of which specify command and control information to the nodes, intelligent means are provided in the nodes to enable the nodes to test their internal communication channels and the communication channels to their associated distributed terminals independently of the central computers, and to reconfigure themselves independently of the central computers, substituting spare channels for identified malfunctioning ones. Conditions detectable by or within the node may initiate such testing. This means comprises a script interpreter which causes the node to execute scripts previously provided to it. New scripts may be provided to the nodes from a central computer.