Abstract: The computer system operates a plurality of display devices 100 and 102. Such a computer system has at least a first video adapter 203 with a first video BIOS and a second video adapter 207 with a second video BIOS. A system BIOS identifies one of the first and second video adapters 203, 207 as a primary video adapter and the other of the first and second video adapters 203, 207 as a secondary video adapter. During POST, the system BIOS stores the first video BIOS in a first memory area 210 in a system memory 212 of the computer. The system BIOS or Video BIOS then copies the first video BIOS to a second memory area 214 in the system memory 212 when the first video adapter 203 is the secondary video adapter. The system BIOS POSTs the second video BIOS when the second video adapter 207 is the primary video adapter, and stores the second video BIOS in the first memory area 210. This then causes the first video BIOS in the first memory area 210 to be overwritten by the second video BIOS.

Abstract: A flexible interface that enables an application to communicate directly with processing modules to easily control the processing of streaming data. The interface provides basic commands for applications to use to communicate with processing modules and provides the flexibility to adapt to changing standards. The interface enable an application to set the type of input and output data formats of a processing module and control when the processing module processes input data and generates output data. The processing modules enurmerate its capabilities by category, by media type, or by both category and media type. Processing modules are registered by class ID, category, whether the application needs a key, the number and types of input data types, and the number and type of output data types to register.

Abstract: An environment for developing clientside/serverside code is disclosed. The environment supports the perception that the server space and client space are seamlessly joined into a single program execution space. An outgrowth of the single execution space includes effective event handing on the server through enabling created objects to migrate effectively between the server and client.

Abstract: In an object-oriented data processing system, methods and systems in accordance with the present invention provide a proxy class dynamically generated at runtime that implements a list of interfaces specified at runtime such that a method invocation through an interface on an instance of the class is encoded and dispatched uniformly to an object that performs the invocation of the requested method. The generation of the proxy class at runtime and the specification at runtime of the list of interfaces implemented by the proxy class allow the interfaces to be used to be chosen at runtime before generation of the proxy class. Since the proxy class does not need to be created before compile time, the interface list implemented by the proxy class does not need to be known at the time the source code is written.

Abstract: An executable program is prepared from a plurality of object code modules, each object code module including section data and associated relocations and at least one of the object code modules further including code sequences at least some of which are like to be repeatedly included in the executable program. Wherever a code sequence is to be inserted, a relocation instruction specifies the location of the code sequence and the code sequence is inserted into the section data at the appropriate point. A linker, a method for assembling, and a computer program product support these operations.

Abstract: Apparatus and processes, including computer implemented processes, for managing exceptions throwable during execution of methods in one or more classes by a machine. Each method includes an exception handler array defining exception handlers associated with the method. The method includes combining the exception handler arrays for all methods into a single exception handler table.

Abstract: Tasking systems and methods are provided that support user interfaces for displaying objects, the displayed objects enabling user access to resources that provide for effecting tasks among the system and devices of the systems' environment. More particularly, tasking systems and methods are provided that support the foregoing features, wherein the systems and methods support clustering operations respecting such task-associated objects so as to enhance the effecting of the associated tasks, such clustering operations responding to context. The clustering operations preferably are both adaptive and dynamic. Tasking systems and methods preferably support the tracking of selected states, including, as examples, one or more of environment states, device states, and system states. Tracked states typically also include states respecting other relevant criteria, such as temporal criteria.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for exploratory analysis of event messages. The invention includes a parsing engine to translate textual messages into structured event data, a selection and control engine (SCE) to provide data management and communication channels for a set of analysis methods, and viewers to support different kinds of analysis methods. The invention further includes a mechanism for viewers to exchange information, a mechanism for interactively and iteratively refining parsing rules, and a mechanism to visualize events through event graphs.

Abstract: A software development toolkit allows a user to create one or more real-time interactive control and communication software objects for use in connection with a computer and a machine which communicate pursuant to a standard communication protocol for process control. The toolkit allows, for example, a user to create ActiveX controls that are OPC compliant.

Abstract: An operating system architecture is disclosed. The operating system architecture is configured to provide a user space and a kernel space. The operating system architecture comprises a number of tasks, a message, and a microkernel. The tasks are executed in the user space, while the microkernel is executed in the kernel space. The microkernel supports an application programming interface (API) that is configured to support a limited number of directives, the limited number of directives being substantially fewer in number than a number of directives supported by an application programming interface of a traditional operating system. The microkernel is configured to pass the message from a first one of the tasks to a second one of the tasks by virtue of the application programming interface being configured to support message-passing directives.

Abstract: This invention provides a universal interface system that is capable of launching software applications across operating system platforms. For example, the universal interface system allows a computer using a Microsoft Windows operating system to launch and execute software applications that were written for a UNIX operating system environment. Conversely, the universal interface system allows software applications written for a Linux operating system environment to be launched and operating in a Sun Solaris operating system environment. The universal interface system may interface between the BIOS and the operating system or operate on top of the operating system.

Abstract: A pseudo device driver is provided for use by an operation system in a virtual desktop computing environment. The driver has two ports, a master port that is opened by the driver application and a slave port accessed by a program. The two ports provide the functionality necessary for supporting the remote device on the terminal. When a program accesses a device coupled to the terminal, the program opens the pseudo device driver's slave port and proceeds as if the device were coupled to a local bus.

Abstract: Methods and system for dynamically intercepting exported functions for dynamic link libraries for a process in a windowed operating system. The methods and system allow calls to exported functions in a dynamic link library on a windowed operating system to be dynamically intercepted. The methods and system include using an interception driver to determine if any exported function calls should be intercepted, and an interception dynamic link library to dynamically intercept exported functions calls. The interception dynamic link library includes an interception table to record exported functions that will be intercepted and a global interception function. The global interception function includes one or more calls to before-interception functions, replacement functions and after-interception functions that can be called with a pre-determined priority for an intercepted function.

Abstract: A stack unwinding mechanism and method for same is presented. The stack unwinding mechanism reduces stack overflow problems by determining if an asynchronous function completed synchronously and unwinding the stack if the function did complete synchronously. The stack unwinding mechanism then completes the client's processing of the asynchronous function's task after the stack has been unwound. This allows client processing to take place when there is little chance of stack overflow or overgrowth. If the asynchronous function will complete asynchronously, the stack unwinding mechanism allows processing to continue normally because there is little chance for stack overflow in this situation. The various embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein are especially well-suited to embedded processor environments.

Abstract: Presented herein is a video enhancer plug-in for a web browser that may either interface directly with the browser or indirectly as a plug-in for another more general multimedia browser plug-in. The video enhancer consists primarily of video enhanced scripts and a library of specialized routines. A script is intended to provide a visually interesting display within a web browser environment and calls upon routines in the library to do so. These routines, for example, may take live video input from a video camera and perform specific functions such as locating the head of an individual within the camera's field of view. Because the script runs within a web browser, it allows components of the system to be widely separated from one another, so long as they are connected across a wide area network such as the Internet.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and system for managing subscriptions in a software system. The method includes sending a request to a child notification publisher to send a notification message to at least one subscriber on the child, notification publisher's subscriber list; sending the notification message to the subscribers on the child notification publisher's subscriber list; and sending a request to a parent notification publisher to send the notification message to the at least one subscriber on the parent notification publisher's subscriber list. The method and system in accordance with the present invention utilizes a publisher tree for managing subscriptions. This tree allows event subscribers to request subscriptions at a granular level without requiring the event subscribers who do not need a granular subscription to have multiple subscriptions to receive whole categories of messages from event sources.

Abstract: A computer system of a multi-operation-system (multi-OS) has a main memory having a memory area for a first OS and a memory area for a second OS, both the areas being independent from each other, and a plurality of I/O devices divisionally allocated to the first OS and the second OS. The first OS is loaded in the first OS memory area, and thereafter when the first OS is operated, the second OS is loaded in the second OS memory area and initialized. When the first OS is operated, the first OS hardware resources and the second OS hardware resources are registered by the first OS. Thereafter when the first OS is operated, the first OS inhibits the registration of an interrupt number already allocated to the second OS I/O device. In response to an interrupt request from a second OS I/O device, the second OS starts operating.

Abstract: A generic interface layer for providing a generic interface to a hardware environment for a program executing on the hardware environment. The generic interface layer, is interrupt-driven. It includes driver code for devices in the hardware environment that is executed in response to software interrupts from the program and interrupt handling code for handling interrupts from the hardware environment. The interrupt handling code responds to an interrupt by calling a callback in the program. The generic interface layer includes a loader for loading the program and a debugger for controlling execution of the program. Execution of code in the generic interface layer may be coordinated by the system timer interrupt code that is executed in response to a system timer interrupt. Code that is executing in the generic interface layer may register itself or other code with the system timer interrupt code, which then executes the code in response to a system timer interrupt.

Abstract: A mechanism for inter-process communication (IPC) redirection is defined that enables flexible and dynamic management of IPC paths. In some cases, it is desirable to interpose a process on a communication channel. There are a number of uses of such interposition, ranging from auditing communication to capturing requests for a debugger to authorizing operations expressed in the communication. Prior IPC mechanisms typically do not enable dynamic and flexible interposition. Either interposition is ingrained in the process identity or is done in an ad hoc manner (e.g., by inserting code into the kernel). An IPC mechanism is defined that enables a communication from a source to a destination to be arbitrarily redirected. Services, called redirection controllers, are defined that are able to specify the redirections for IPC paths.

Abstract: In an object oriented computer system, a framework mechanism defines an infrastructure for allowing a user to flexibly define keys and their corresponding attributes. A special type of key called a specification key allows combinations of attributes to be specified, as well as set and range capabilities. An attribute retrieval policy is defined by a programmer to specify an algorithm or criteria that is used to calculating the desired attribute value. An attribute key controller contains key/value pairings for the attribute, contains the attribute retrieval policy, provides a maintenance interface for changing the attribute values; and provides a client interface for retrieving the attribute according to the attribute retrieval policy. The framework thus allows a user great flexibility in defining a suitable key/attribute retrieval mechanism by defining a suitable policy, defining one or more specification keys, and defining an associated controller.