Abstract: A methodology for generating a drop shadow effect for objects in a graphical user interface is presented. A first object in a presentation space occludes the illumination from a simulated light source, and a dynamically determined drop shadow from the first object may partially occlude a second object. A portion of a drop shadow from the first object is shown on the second object; the portion of the drop shadow from the first object is displaced from the first object in direct proportion to a z-depth difference between the first object and the second object. Hence, a drop shadow can be generated in a computationally inexpensive manner, and the dynamically determined drop shadow enhances the perception of depth within the presentation space by a user.

Abstract: A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product are presented for recordation and playback of transactions within a web browser or similar client application. A transaction recordation and playback utility captures dynamic information upon recordation and/or playback of a web-browser-based transaction. The dynamic information is derived from the DOM-related (Document Object Model) information that is maintained within the web browser application. Using information from a previously recorded transaction, the transaction recordation and playback utility searches the current DOM-related information for current values of dynamic parameters, thereby allowing generation of a complete and appropriate HTTP request on every subsequent playback of a recorded transaction.

Abstract: A method for simplifying the development, testing and maintenance of code objects that may be used, for example, to generate custom web page content. According to the invention, a developer isolates a given task, generates code for the task, and then provides a means by which a page-generating Java servlet can access that code at request time. The code may be generated at any time, and the servlet preferably is generated at translation time, i.e. when a request for the page is first made at a server. In a preferred embodiment, the code for the task is supported within a given method of a Java tagbean.

Abstract: A method is presented in which federated domains interact within a federated environment. Domains within a federation can initiate federated single-sign-on operations for a user at other federated domains. A point-of-contact server within a domain relies upon a trust proxy within the domain to manage trust relationships between the domain and the federation. Trust proxies interpret assertions from other federated domains as necessary. Trust proxies may have a trust relationship with one or more trust brokers, and a trust proxy may rely upon a trust broker for assistance in interpreting assertions. When a user requests to logoff from a domain that has initiated federated single-sign-on operations for the user at other federated domains, the domain initiates a consolidated logoff operation by requesting logoff operations at those other federated domains, which may also initiate logoff operations in a cascaded fashion to the domains at which they have initiated federated single-sign-on operations.

Abstract: A system manipulates molecules using a set of proximal probes such as those used in atomic force microscopes. An electrostatic pattern is placed on a set of proximal probes such that each proximal probe may exert an electrostatic force. A molecule is captured using those electrostatic forces, after which the molecule can be manipulated while the molecule remains captured by the proximal probes. The electrostatic pattern can be modified such that the molecule moves and/or rotates over the set of proximal probes while the molecule remains captured by the set of proximal probes. The electrostatic pattern can be used to bend or split the molecule while the molecule remains captured by the set of proximal probes, thereby allowing the system to engage the molecule in chemical reactions, e.g., to act as a synthetic catalyst or a synthetic enzyme.

Abstract: A method, a system, an apparatus, and a computer program product are presented for object-oriented management of serializable objects. An object has a set of attributes and a class version number, which identifies the object as an instance of a specific version of a class. In addition, each attribute in the object has an attribute version number, which may represent a version of a class in which the associated attribute was initially declared within the class. The object may be serialized into a data stream, and the data stream has the class version number of the object, an attribute value for each attribute in the set of attributes, and an attribute version number for each attribute in the set of attributes. The data stream may also have a class identifier for the class of the object and an attribute count for the set of attributes into the data stream.

Abstract: A simple electronic horological device, termed a time cell, is presented with associated methods, systems, and computer program products. A time cell has an insulated, charge storage element that receives an electrostatic charge through its insulating medium, i.e. it is programmed. Over time, the charge storage element then loses the electrostatic charge through its insulating medium. Given the reduction of the electric potential of the programmed charge storage element at a substantially known discharge rate, and by observing the electric potential of the programmed charge storage element at a given point in time, an elapsed time period can be determined. Thus, the time cell is able to measure an elapsed time period without a continuous power source.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for importing/attaching or exporting/detaching a file during a given e-mail operation. From a user's perspective, the method begins when the user elects to perform the import/attach or export/detach function with respect to a given file. If the file resides locally, the operation proceeds as usual by carrying out the function as if the file is on the local system and resides in a known place. If, however, the file does not reside locally, a panel or other user interface is displayed. Using this panel, the user may then attempt to log into a remote system on which the file is supported. Thus, for example, the user interface may require the user to enter a userid, password, hostname, or some combination thereof. If the user login is successful, the routine gets or puts the file (e.g., using an FTP operation) as required, preferably as a background process.

Abstract: A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product are presented for enabling a hidden port in a computing device. A determination is made as to whether the computing device has a hidden port, which is a port that is externally inaccessible to a user of the computing device and is not dedicated for general input/output (I/O) purposes. If the computing device has a hidden port, then the computing device is configured to use the hidden port for general I/O purposes and possibly also for debugging purposes. The user may optionally specify a data value that can be used to indicate whether the user chooses for the hidden port to be enabled for general I/O purposes and/or for debugging purposes. The hidden port optionally may or may not be enabled based on whether the computing device is a legacy-free device.

Abstract: A simple electronic horological device, termed a time cell, is presented with associated methods, systems, and computer program products. A time cell has an insulated, charge storage element that receives an electrostatic charge through its insulating medium, i.e. it is programmed. Over time, the charge storage element then loses the charge through its insulating medium. Given the reduction of the electric potential of the programmed charge storage element at a substantially known discharge rate, and by observing the potential of the programmed charge storage element at a given point in time, an elapsed time period can be determined. Thus, the time cell measures an elapsed time period without a continuous power source. One type of time cell is an analog time cell that may have a form similar to a non-volatile memory cell, particularly a floating gate field effect transistor (FGFET). The time cell may have an expanded floating gate for storing an electrostatic charge.

Abstract: A simple electronic horological device, termed a time cell, is presented with associated methods, systems, and computer program products. A time cell has an insulated, charge storage element that receives an electrostatic charge through its insulating medium, i.e. it is programmed. Over time, the charge storage element then loses the electrostatic charge through its insulating medium. Given the reduction of the electric potential of the programmed charge storage element at a substantially known discharge rate, and by observing the electric potential of the programmed charge storage element at a given point in time, an elapsed time period can be determined. Thus, the time cell is able to measure an elapsed time period without a continuous power source. One type of time cell is a binary time cell that may have a form similar to a non-volatile memory cell.

Abstract: A simple electronic horological device, termed a time cell, is presented with associated methods, systems, and computer program products. A time cell has an insulated, charge storage element that receives an electrostatic charge through its insulating medium, i.e. it is programmed. Over time, the charge storage element then loses the charge through its insulating medium. Given the reduction of the electric potential of the programmed charge storage element at a substantially known discharge rate, and by observing the potential of the programmed charge storage element at a given point in time, an elapsed time period can be determined. Thus, the time cell measures an elapsed time period without a continuous power source. One type of time cell is an analog time cell that may have a form similar to a non-volatile memory cell, particularly a floating gate field effect transistor (FGFET). The time cell may have an expanded floating gate for storing an electrostatic charge.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product is provided for the determination of a single delivery status of a message sent to multiple recipients which also allows the message to be transmitted or transferred through multiple message protocols, such as Extended Simple Message Transfer Protocol (ESMTP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), and Vendor Independent Messaging (VIM). A sender generates an original message that is intended to be sent to multiple recipients. When a delivery status notification is received from a recipient, the delivery status notification contains a protocol-specific delivery status code. The protocol-specific status codes of multiple messaging protocols are mapped to a protocol-neutral set of status codes that can be commonly applied to any given messaging protocol.

Abstract: A method, operative at a web server, for generating an HTML table having dynamic data, wherein the table can be oriented in any horizontal or vertical orientation. The method preferably utilizes a table format page object to format the table. To facilitate selective rotation of the dynamic table, the method begins by associating together given attribute characteristics of each individual cell in the table. The page developer then sets a table style rotation property on the table format page object. In response to a client request, the table format page object is then instantiated with the dynamic data. The table style rotation property is applied to the table to control the table's orientation. The resulting table is then served back to the requesting client browser.

Abstract: A method is provided for determining an identity of a browser in an Java environment in which an intermediary program masks the browser's identity. The method begins by querying an operating system process table for information identifying the browser. Thereafter, a Java properties table including the information from the process table is set. In response to a request from a calling program (e.g., an applet class) for the browser identity, a getProperty method is then called to retrieve the browser identity from the properties table. The browser identity is then returned to the calling program.

Abstract: A method of managing a set of clients in a distributed computer network having a management server. A given client preferably includes a dataless management framework. According to the method, a proxy object is associated to each application instance on a given client. The proxy object preferably includes a data set including information representing a context of the application instance. The application instance is then managed through the proxy object directly.

Abstract: A method and system of certifying that a copy of a Web page was made at a particular time by a user of a Web client. A client piece preferably includes a one-way hashing function that, when applied to a Web page copy, generates a unique string. The string is concatenated with a URL for the Web page, a timestamp and other identifying information, to generate a signature. Using a public key cryptosystem, the signature is provided to a certification server. Upon receipt, the server first determines whether the signature represents the Web page copy. If so, a confirmation is sent to the client, and the signature is stored in a database. Preferably, the Web page copy itself is not stored in the database. Signatures from other Web page copies received during a given period (e.g., the same day) are then summed and the sum is published.

Abstract: Different scripting languages may reside side-by-side or nested within each other on the same web page. Thus, a new author may add code to the page, and he or she is not tied to any given subset of languages supported by the web server. Multiple scripting languages are supported by identifying a start and an end of each scripting language code block authored into the web page markup language. When the web page is later compiled into an XML Document Object Model (DOM) tree, the routine examines the DOM to identify any nodes that identify a given code block. Upon encountering a node that identifies a given code block, the DOM is adjusted to account for the script code within the given code block.

Abstract: A method for processing a Document Object Model (DOM) tree to verify context between multiple related XML tags. One or more of these related XML tags are custom tags. According to the invention, contextual relationships between the related XML tags are verified using the DOM itself to indicate state. In a preferred embodiment, the inventive method begins during the processing of the DOM tree with a current element being processed replacing itself with a placeholder element. The placeholder element includes attributes indicating its state. If a clean-up element does not already exist for the element being processed, the current element creates a clean-up element and adds it to the DOM, for example, as a child node to the root position. When the clean-up element is later encountered, this element scans the entire DOM for all the related tags (now placeholders) of interest. The clean-up element loads the state information from each and processes the state information accordingly.

Abstract: A method operative at a server in response to a client browser request for generating a table having dynamic data. The method begins by instantiating a table format object with dynamic data extracted from one of a set of data objects through a common interface. The common interface enables page developers to author customized data getter objects that are used to access data in the set of data objects. The dynamic data extracted from the given data object through the common interface is formatted into the table according to the table format object. The resulting table with dynamic data is then served back to the requesting client browser.