Abstract: A method and apparatus for developing graphics applications, including a framework for handling the exchange of graphical data between applications and for presenting and manipulating graphical objects. The framework includes a number of classes which are used by the application developer to facilitate the interaction between the major subsystems, Models, Views and User Interface, of the system architecture.

Abstract: A filtering framework in an object oriented operating system with a processor, such as an IBM PowerPC, a storage connected to and controlled by the processor, a display connected to and controlled by said processor, an object-oriented operating system resident in the storage and under the control of the processor, a view framework in the object-oriented operating system for managing a window on the display, a container framework in the object-oriented operating system for storing and manipulating information indicative of each item displayed in the window on the display, and a filter framework in the object-oriented operating system containing a method and data which respond to selection of a particular filter object and application of the filter object to each item displayed in the window to filter out all items not matching a particular characteristic that is not currently required. The filtered out items in a preferred embodiment are gathered into a bundle of unusable items and displayed in a group.

Abstract: The system of the present invention provides a mechanism for executing a script sequence containing a plurality of commands and associated time for executing the commands. The system allows a user of the script sequence to specify an arbitrary time, either forward or backward from a current time, and the result of the execution reflects the cumulative effects of executing the script sequence from the beginning up to the arbitrary time. The system provides for a skip ahead mechanism in which commands are executed without waiting for the occurrence of their associated time. The system also provides for rewind and key-frame features.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for a dialog processing system is disclosed. Dialogs include variables that reflect the system's current state. This includes status information determinative of a command's state (enabled/disabled), its name, its associated graphic, and whether its appearance is currently valid. The invention creates a dialog including an object's data structure containing a command sequence. The command is added to a list of commands, and a dialog box is presented to the user. Later when the dialog is processed, the appearance state is recomputed based on the system state.