Abstract: A television tuner and method monitor a scoreboard during a television sporting event and affect the viewing and/or recording of the sporting event according to information on the scoreboard. For example, the presentation of the sporting event may be affected according to the scoreboard by muting the volume or blanking the screen whenever the clock on the scoreboard is not running. In another example, the tuner and method control the recording of a television sporting event according to information on the scoreboard. A recorder could be paused whenever the clock is not running and resumed when the clock starts, thereby automatically skipping all commercials and all commentary when the clock is not running. In yet another example, the tuner and method control the presentation of a previously-recorded sporting event according to information on the scoreboard. A recorded sporting event could be filtered to display only the portions that contain a scoreboard the satisfied specified criteria.

Abstract: A handheld electronic book reader, program product, and method incorporate enhanced annotation and/or usage tracking capabilities. Support is provided for user creation of “contexts” for defined terms in an electronic document. Moreover, annotation data such as contexts, comments and highlighting may be associated with various users, and displayed in connection with the display of an electronic document so as to indicate that different annotation data has been originated by different users. In addition, from the standpoint of usage tracking, usage statistics for an electronic document displayed in a handheld electronic reader may be generated on a page-by-page basis, and/or in association with term definitions. Moreover, usage statistics for multiple users may be combined and analyzed.

Abstract: A method, computer system and program product operable to calculate a life span of an object by determining when an object is created and becomes collectable. A garbage collection trace algorithm conducted on a method boundary reveals when the object becomes unreachable. Trace data pertaining to the collection status of the object is stored and displayed within a record file. Other data stored by the invention relates to object creation, as well as to method entry and exit.

Abstract: An instant messaging application intelligently infers a user's unavailability from one or more indicia which include the user's electronic calendar. Preferably, the instant messaging application may report not only that a user is unavailable, but also give a reason for inferring unavailability, in order to provide other users with additional potentially useful information. Preferably, the user may specify which indicia and which parameters may be used to infer his unavailability in an editable profile. When another user requests status, this value is returned by the server. An intelligent instant messaging application as described herein provides other users with more accurate and complete availability information.

Abstract: A method, apparatus and program product verify routing accuracy for an electronic message intended for a recipient. The appropriateness of the electronic message being sent to an entered address is based on an evaluation of contextual information also associated with the electronic message. Upon a determination that the address is potentially inappropriate for the electronic message, corrective action may be initiated.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method effectively merge computer documentation for multiple API sets together to facilitate user access to such computer documentation. Such merging of computer documentation may include, in part, the incorporation, into a navigation file, of a plurality of API set links associated with a plurality of API sets, as well as the incorporation, into an index file, of a plurality of index links to documentation files for at least two of the plurality of API sets. Furthermore, computer documentation may be displayed to a user by displaying selected information in a plurality of display regions of a computer display. In a first display region, at least a portion of a first navigation file may be displayed, with the first navigation file including a plurality of API set links associated with a plurality of API sets.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method collect operational statistics associated with database access by a computer program for use in performing coverage analysis on the program. In particular, coverage analysis may be performed for a computer program that accesses a database by tracking accesses to records in the database by the computer program during coverage analysis, and calculating at least one database coverage statistic based upon the tracked accesses to the records in the database.

Abstract: A method to improve object-oriented computer processing by reducing the incidences of object creation and garbage collection. A compiler, preferably of object-oriented language such as Java, identifies a list of objects that are fixed in value or are constant and places those fixed/constant objects in a separate class, a root class, which is loaded at run-time along with all the other classes. Upon creation of an object table, a separate object table may be created for those objects in the root class thereby immunizing the fixed entries from garbage collection and the values will not be erased from memory. Alternatively, the fixed/constant objects can be placed in an object table along with other variable objects but can be marked as active by changing the bit values in a field of the object table.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method optimize the interaction between a client and server via an active document through the modification of server-side program code that generates the active document to effectively shift the performance of portable operations, e.g., data formatting and data validation operations, from the server to the client.

Abstract: A performance analyzer for object-oriented programming code distinguishes between an object which is substantively used within the creating method, and one which is merely created in the creating method and passed back to a calling method. In the preferred embodiment, a trace record is generated when the object is first accessed, to indicate the method which caused the operation, but no trace record is generated on subsequent object accesses. The performance analyzer may parse the trace to determine whether an object access trace record occurred in the creating method, or in some other method. Preferably, the program being analyzed is written in Java, and the performance analyzer is an instrumented Java Virtual Machine (JVM), i.e., a JVM to which trace and/or other performance analytic capabilities are added.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method dynamically optimize prepared statements resident in a statement pool to permit subsequent reuses of such statements to utilize the optimized representations of such statements. The optimization of pooled statements may be performed responsive to the tracked usage of the statements in a statement pool, to direct the overhead associated with such optimization to those statements that are more likely to be utilized in the future. Among a multitude of possible optimizations, a pooled statement that requests data in a format other than that utilized by the database being accessed may be modified to request the data in the format used by the database, thereby decreasing the overhead in the database associated with format conversions.

Abstract: An apparatus and method define the concept of a “database breakpoint.” One or more conditions in the database are specified as a database breakpoint in a debug environment for debugging a computer program that accesses the database. When the database conditions exist, one or more debug functions may be performed with respect to the execution of the computer program. Examples of debug functions include halting execution of the computer program and halting operations to the database by other programs. With both the computer program and database halted, the user may then interrogate the database to determine its state, and may interrogate the program to determine its state. Database breakpoints greatly enhance the utility of a debugger by providing additional conditions for debugging a computer program that accesses a database.

Abstract: A code optimizer is used to optimize a computer program that references a database by determining the characteristics of the database and making suitable optimizations based on the characteristics of the database. By taking into account the characteristics of a database referenced in the computer program, the optimizer may make suitable optimizations to the computer program. Such optimizations include, without limitation, removing unnecessary calls to the database, removing unnecessary loops, removing unnecessary database operations, providing compile-time errors, and replacing dynamic calls with static data.

Abstract: A query processor caches data retrieved from executing prepared statements, and uses the cached data for subsequent accesses to the data, if certain conditions for using the cached data are met. The preferred embodiments also include a data staleness handler that takes care of issues that arise from data that may have changed in the database but is not reflected in the cache. One way to handle data staleness in the cache is to specifically enable or disable caching in a query. If caching is disabled, the query processor will access the data in the database. Another way to handle data staleness in the cache is to provide a timer that causes the cache to be invalidated when the timer times out. Yet another way to handle data staleness in the cache is to provide specified conditions that must be met for caching to occur, such as time or date limitations. Still another way to handle data staleness in the cache is to provide an update trigger for the data in the database that corresponds to the cached data.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method utilize one or more usage statistics, which are reflective of what data is actually and/or likely to be used by a client when processing a database query, to reduce or eliminate the transfer of unnecessary data between a client and server in a client-server database management system. Information such as the columns that are or have been used and/or the number of rows that have been accessed, may be utilized to identify certain data that is likely to not be used during processing of the database query. Based upon the data that has been identified, a subset of the data that would otherwise be returned as a result of the database query may be identified and returned to a client, often substantially reducing the amount of data required to be retrieved by a client in connection with a database query.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus of providing programming assistance for an integrated development environment. In one embodiment, a code portion is received. An attempt to retrieve a structured query language (SQL) statement that corresponds with the line code is then made. A recommendation based on the code portion for restructuring the corresponding SQL statement is then generated. The recommendation may include a modified SQL statement, referred to as a recommended SQL statement or a textual spoken language recommendation.

Abstract: A database optimizer collects statistics regarding which types of applications are accessing the database, and makes one or more changes to the database schema to optimize performance according to the collected statistics. In a first embodiment, the optimizer detects when a certain type of application accesses the database a percentage of time that exceeds a predefined threshold level, and if the data in the database is stored in a less-than-optimal format for the application, the data type of one or more columns in the database is changed to a more optimal format for the application. This means that the database optimizer must recognize when a different type of application requests data from any changed column, and must potentially perform a conversion from the new data type to the old data type before returning the requested data.

Abstract: An on-screen program guide formatted with viewership information is provided. In general, viewership data is collected from a plurality of viewers via, e.g., cable and satellite receivers. The viewership data is then processed to provide viewership information including viewership interest, viewership growth rates, surfing behavior, and other viewership behavior. The viewership interest may also include group member information such as which members of a group are watching a particular program, group ratings of a program, individual member ratings of a program and the like. The viewership information may then be transmitted back to the viewers and displayed as part of an on-screen program guide or other visual interface.

Abstract: Embodiments provide a method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for providing programming assistance in integrated development environments. In one embodiment, a list of internal and/or external variables associated with a particular method is generated. In another embodiment, a list of internal and/or external variables is ranked in order of probability for usage within a selected method call.

Abstract: An apparatus and method allows one or more objects to be defined, and one or more corresponding functions to be defined for one or more of the defined objects. An object recognition processor processes digital images, looking for the defined objects. For each defined object that is found in the digital image, a corresponding function is performed. In one specific example of the preferred embodiments, digital images of people's faces are defined as objects. Digital images are processed to see if any of the objects (faces) are present in the digital image. If an object is recognized, an e-mail message is automatically generated with a distribution list that is defined by the recognized object or objects. In this e-mail example, the distribution list will be a superset of the specified distribution lists for all recognized objects. Thus, a digital image that includes grandpa, grandma, and a grandson may be automatically sent to the recipients defined for each of these recognized objects.