Abstract: OOP environments comprise composite data structures and internal mechanisms for manipulating those structures. The structures are used to allow a user to realize the power of OOP. Hence, the layout of these structures, the way in which the structures inter-relate, and the manner in which they are built and used are all critical to the utility of a particular OOP environment. It is no surprise, then, that manufacturers and suppliers of OOP environments are constantly striving to design composite data structures and internal mechanisms which maximize user productivity. The internal mechanisms and structures that make up the present invention are collectively referred to as the New Object Model (NOM). The composite data structures and organization of the NOM OOP environment provide significant benefits that are not provided by the environments of the prior art.

Abstract: OOP environments comprise composite data structures and internal mechanisms for manipulating those structures. The structures are used to allow a user to realize the power of OOP. Hence, the layout of these structures, the way in which the structures inter-relate, and the manner in which they are built and used are all critical to the utility of a particular OOP environment. It is no surprise, then, that manufacturers and suppliers of OOP environments are constantly striving to design composite data structures and internal mechanisms which maximize user productivity. The internal mechanisms and structures that make up the present invention are collectively referred to as the New Object Model (NOM). The composite data structures and organization of the NOM OOP environment provide significant benefits that are not provided by the environments of the prior art.

Abstract: DASD failures occurring on sector boundaries currently go undetected. While this sort of problem can occur at any time, it usually occurs when the program executing on the computer system's processor is operating on a multisector piece of data and periodically updating that information in auxiliary storage so that the copy in auxiliary storage is relatively up to date with the changes being made by the program. The storage management mechanism of the present invention solves the problem of sector boundary write failures by associating a sequence number with each piece of multisector data. Essentially, the sequence number becomes a property of the particular piece of data itself. When the mechanism retrieves the information from disk, it checks to make sure that all the sequence numbers match. If they do not, a data integrity problem has been detected.

Abstract: The solution employed by the present invention keeps information about individual exception instances in data structures which are independent of the local storage of the system-level exception management routines. This eliminates confusion and ambiguity because the entire exception handling mechanism can be described and specified in terms of the manipulation of these data structures, independent of the call/return flow of the system-level exception management routines.

Abstract: The present invention involves a database administrator that is comprised of a plurality of database managers and a plurality of database servers. The database managers act as an interface between the database servers and client programs and the database servers act as an interface between the database managers and the database itself. The client programs, database managers, and database servers all execute within a single-level-store environment, which allows them to communicate with one another without incurring the expense of inter-address space communication and/or the expense associated with the cross-address space mapping of query results.

Abstract: Problem ownership and status propagation in a clustered system environment must be coordinated in a way that avoids redundant and/or conflicting recovery efforts. IOP managers which overcome these problems are disclosed. A primary IOP manager is one which has problem ownership for a particular IOP. There is only one primary IOP manager for each IOP. A secondary IOP manager is one which resides upon a computer system that shares the resources of a particular IOP or IOPs, but nevertheless does not have problem ownership for that particular IOP(s). There are one or more secondary IOP managers for a given IOP. When a primary IOP manager is informed of a problem in a device attached to a shared IOP, it updates resident system management information to indicate the new status of the subject device, informs its local system management of the problem so that corrective actions may be taken, and sends the status information to the secondary IOP managers via the IOP itself.

Abstract: An input device pointer remapping region on a computer display is disclosed. When the input device pointer enters a region on a computer display, such as a rectangular scroll bar region, the pointer advances by jumping to a point within the region, such as the center of the region. Further movements of the pointer through the region are adjusted to increase the likelihood that the pointer will remain in the region. However, these adjustments are performed in such a manner as to not impede the travel of the input device through the region. This allows the input device pointer to stay within regions when appropriate, yet allows it to pass through regions unimpeded when the user so desires. This allows for the more efficient use of valuable display space, and can even allow a scroll bar to fit within a narrow window border. The operation of the pointer within the region is controlled by a remapping factor. Selection of the remapping factor can be modified from region to region.

Abstract: This invention relates in general to object-oriented encapsulated enforcement mechanisms. In particular, a hardware independent object encapsulation enforcement mechanism is disclosed herein. The object encapsulation enforcement mechanism of the present invention uses encryption technology to ensure that data controlled by an object is accessed solely through use of the object's method programs. When an object is instantiated, the virtual address used to refer to the object is encrypted before it is returned to the instantiating application program. When access to a previously instantiated object is requested, the object encapsulation enforcement mechanism decrypts the presented object address and passes the address to the identified method program, thereby ensuring that only object method programs have access to data controlled by the object.

Abstract: The present invention utilizes a hardware Window Storage Protection Controller (WSPC) and an Object Encapsulation Enforcement Manager (OEEM) to limit access to object data to only those methods which are encapsulated by the object. All of the objects of the computer system which require protection are stored in protected storage by a base storage protection mechanism so that only the mechanisms of the present invention can deny or permit access to the data encapsulated by the objects.

Abstract: A conventional bi-endian computer system is enhanced to include mixed-endian circuitry that allows the computer system to dynamically change its endian mode. The mixed-endian computer system can change endian mode on a task by task basis if necessary. The mixed-endian circuitry automatically formats the data in the form expected by the running task, regardless of whether the task expects the data to be in big endian format or in little endian format. The mixed-endian circuitry also formats big and little endian instructions such that they can execute on the same computer system.

Abstract: An object, such as a robot, is located at an initial state in a finite state space area and moves under the control of the unsupervised neural network model of the invention. The network instructs the object to move in one of several directions from the initial state. Upon reaching another state, the model again instructs the object to move in one of several directions. These instructions continue until either: a) the object has completed a cycle by ending up back at a state it has been to previously during this cycle, or b) the object has completed a cycle by reaching the goal state. Upon reaching a state, the neural network model calculates a level of satisfaction with its progress towards reaching the goal state. If the level of satisfaction is low, the neural network model is more likely to override what has been learned thus far and deviate from a path known to lead to the goal state to experiment with new and possibly better paths.

Abstract: A multi-processor computer system executes a single-thread program having a plurality of callable procedures. The local memory of each processor contains a program stack, the object code of each procedure that executes on that processor, and an agent object. In addition, the local memory contains a c-stub module for each procedure executable on a different processor, and a s-stub module for each local procedure that can be called by a remote procedure. When a procedure P1 executing on processor A calls a procedure P2 which executes in processor B, it issues a local call to P2's c-stub in processor A's local memory. The P2 c-stub then invokes the agent process in processor A, which communicates with a corresponding agent process in processor B. The agent process in processor B causes P2's s-stub in processor B to issue a local call to procedure P2. The return from a procedure follows the same path in reverse.

Abstract: The ability to harmonize the activities of individual computer system components with control signals is key to the operation of any computer system. Examples of this need for control include the need to write data to multiple registers on the same clock cycle, the need to clear values on multiple entities on the same clock cycle, and the need to stop and start the master clock pulse train itself. In the past, providing this control was not a problem because control signals could be reliably sent to all the timing dependent components within a single cycle of the master clock pulse train. This control methodology is called "single cycle control." Today, however, single cycle control is not trustworthy in all situations. Master clock pulse trains are so fast that single cycle control is no longer reliable when timing dependent components reside in locations distant from the control signal generating circuitry.

Abstract: OOP environments comprise composite data structures and internal mechanisms for manipulating those structures. The structures are used to allow a user to realize the power of OOP. Hence, the layout of these structures, the way in which the structures inter-relate, and the manner in which they are built and used are all critical to the utility of a particular OOP environment. It is no surprise, then, that manufacturers and suppliers of OOP environments are constantly striving to design composite data structures and internal mechanisms which maximize user productivity. The internal mechanisms and structures that make up the present invention are collectively referred to as the New Object Model (NOM). The composite data structures and organization of the NOM OOP environment provide significant benefits that are not provided by the environments of the prior art.

Abstract: A method for updating mass storage device configuration records during a configuration change within a computer system is disclosed. A unit configuration record is stored in a system mass storage device. The unit configuration record is unique to each system and it includes a configuration identification, a sequence number and an alteration count table. In addition, a logical device identifier is stored in each mass storage unit within the system. The logical device identifier is unique to each mass storage device unit and it includes a configuration identification, a unit number and an alteration count. If a configuration update is necessary, the corresponding alteration count of the unit configuration record is first incremented, a new logical device identifier is then built with the new alteration count, and finally the new logical device identifier is written to a mass storage device that requires update.

Abstract: Problem ownership and status propagation in a clustered system environment must be coordinated in a way that avoids redundant and/or conflicting recovery efforts. IOP managers which overcome these problems are disclosed. A primary IOP manager is one which has problem ownership for a particular IOP. There is only one primary IOP manager for each IOP. A secondary IOP manager is one which resides upon a computer system that shares the resources of a particular IOP or IOPs, but nevertheless does not have problem ownership for that particular IOP(s). There are one or more secondary IOP managers for a given IOP. When a primary IOP manager is informed of a problem in a device attached to a shared IOP, it updates resident system management information to indicate the new status of the subject device, informs its local system management of the problem so that corrective actions may be taken, and sends the status information to the secondary IOP managers via the IOP itself.

Abstract: A television presentation and editing system uses closed captioning text to locate items of interest. A closed captioning decoder extracts a closed captioning digital text stream from a television signal. A viewer specifies one or more keywords to be used as search parameters. A digital processor executing a control program scans the closed captioning digital text stream for words or phrases matching the search parameters. The corresponding segment of the television broadcast may then be displayed, edited or saved. In one mode of operation, the television presentation system may be used to scan one or more television channels unattended, and save items which may be of interest to the viewer. In another mode of operation, the system may be used to assist editing previously stored video by quickly locating segments of interest.

Abstract: The ADL system provides a way in which computer programs written in different programming languages can share data. The ADL system comprises the ADL language and the facilities necessary to perform the data sharing function. The ADL language uses the concept of a data description and conversion module. A data description and conversion module, or more simply, an ADL module is composed of declarations and plans. Each declaration is an ADL description of how a particular program environment represents data. The plan portion of the ADL module contains ADL statements that instruct the computer system to convert the data representations of the source program environment into the data representations of the target program environment.

Abstract: An aliasing method and apparatus carried out on a digital computer are provided for generating an object code from a source program. An aliasing data structure is defined and includes an initial empty check-list for each variable in the source program. A pseudo variable is constructed to represent each predefined large alias class. The pseudo variable is attached to the check-list of each variable included in the predefined alias class. Inverse alias checking upon use of a variable is provided using the check-lists for the variable.

Abstract: A source roller containing transparent film is mounted below a kiosk's touch screen within the kiosk's enclosure. A portion of the transparent film is manually unwound and connected to a take-up roller mounted above the kiosk's display. The source and take-up rollers are mounted in a way that ensures that the film comes into contact with the touch screen. When a kiosk user enters information via the touch screen, the soil and other residue from the user's hands comes into contact with the film instead of the touch screen itself. Timers, optical sensors, and motors are used to advance the transparent film whenever it becomes dirty.