Abstract: A method and system for variable speed scrolling through a viewable object within a data processing system such as a computer, a television, a kiosk display or hand-held digital product. A portion of the viewable object is displayed within a display window within a data processing system in conjunction with a scroll bar having a slider and one or more scroll buttons associated therewith or some other suitable method of controlling video or audio displays. User selection of the slider or a scroll button initiates scrolling of the viewable object so that additional portions of the viewable object may be displayed. As the viewable object is scrolled, the scroll speed is dynamically varied in response to the content of the viewed portion of the viewable object.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for extending a Java Beans Archive file. A key/value pair is added to the manifest file specification to allow an application to determine information about the sub-element composition of a Java Bean. The key provides a unique integer “N” which allows the specification of a Java Bean in the archive file. The value pair provides specification for a tag for indicating the type of a specific sub-element file in the archive file.

Abstract: A hand held pointing device for use with a computer system having a graphic interface. The pointing device includes a body, and a communications device within the body for communicating movement signals to the computer system. The pointing device further includes a movement detection device within the body, coupled to the communications device, for detecting movement of the body by a computer user. The pointing device additionally includes a pliant outer shell having at least a portion of the body which dynamically conforms to a computer user's hand when the pointing device is held and manipulated by a computer user, such that the portion of the body which conforms to the computer user's hand provides comfort and efficient ergonomic cushioning to the computer user during computer system pointing device activities. The pointing device further includes at least one user input device for transferring data to the computer system via the pointing device.

Abstract: A data processing system and method for customizing a user output of a data processing system are disclosed. According to the method, a user preference for an audio or visual user output of a data processing system is determined. In response to determination of a user output having a first audio or visual frequency, the user output is mapped to a second audio or visual frequency in accordance with the user preference to obtain a customized user output. Thereafter, the customized user output is presented by the data processing system. In accordance with one embodiment, the user preference is determined by administering a test of the user's visual or aural acuity.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for extending the capability of uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to access Repositories on local and Internet connected remote machines. A general syntax for a uniform resource locator for a local machine has a protocol of "beans:", followed by an optional entry for a drive letter. The drive letter allows specification of a local device (e.g., A: or C: drive) where a repository is located. In addition, the general syntax contains entries for a file system path, repository name and Java Archive designation. The general syntax for the uniform resource locator for a remote machine has a protocol of "beans:" followed by entries for host name, file system path, repository name, and the Java Archive designation.

Abstract: A method and apparatus of downloading files from a first computer system to a second computer are provided. In a first embodiment, the files are transmitted and stored into a temporary location in the second computer system. After storing the files in the temporary location, the location is opened as a local repository of the transmitted files. In a second embodiment, it is determined whether the transmitted are in one of two formats. If they are in a format that does not require that the files provide a list of all the subfiles that they contain, we determined whether there exists this list. If not the list is created.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for creating an object-oriented storage structure for storing parsed data so that it can be accessed and manipulated. A Java Archive (JAR) file containing a Manifest file is parsed and the contents placed in the object-oriented storage structure. The Manifest file contains a plurality of paragraphs where each paragraph is separated by a blank line. Each paragraph in the Manifest file is associated with an element in a Paragraph Vector in the object-oriented storage structure. Each element of the Paragraph Vector contains a reference to a Hashtable where each element in the Hashtable corresponds to a Manifest <key>:<value> pair. The storage structure is capable of dynamically growing to the necessary size of the JAR file. Paragraphs are easily added to the end of each Paragraph Vector while maintaining the ordering of the Paragraph Vectors and the performance of look-up searches.