Abstract: A computer system that is configured to conduct communications between a client process and a server process is disclosed. To conduct such communications, an inter-process communication thread is initiated that is separate from a main client inter-process communication thread and operates to establish a connection with a server. A client communication port is created during the establishment of the connection with the server. One or more non-blocking asynchronous communications are transmitted to a server communication port. Responses to the one or more non-blocking asynchronous communications are awaited for receipt by the client communication port.

Abstract: Modular content framework and document format methods and systems are described. The described framework and format define a set of building blocks for composing, packaging, distributing, and rendering document-centered content. These building blocks define a platform-independent framework for document formats that enable software and hardware systems to generate, exchange, and display documents reliably and consistently. The framework and format have been designed in a flexible and extensible fashion. In addition to this general framework and format, a particular format, known as the reach package format, is defined using the general framework. The reach package format is a format for storing paginated documents. The contents of a reach package can be displayed or printed with full fidelity among devices and applications in a wide range of environments and across a wide range of scenarios.

Abstract: Methods and systems permit rendering a text element formatted using unavailable or restricted fonts. In one embodiment, when producing a document that contains a restricted font, text portions formatted with the restricted font are processed into an alternate representation. A textual representation for the text portions and the additional representation(s) are embedded in a document or container. A unique representation for the restricted font file allows a consuming computing system to attempt to find the restricted font locally. Each textual representation is rendered using its corresponding restricted font, if the restricted font file is found. Otherwise, the additional representation(s) are used.

Abstract: Methods for filtering a file written in Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) and incrementally returning the logical content contained therein to the environment, e.g., a search engine, are provided. Additionally provided are methods for extracting logical content contained in a XAML file to facilitate searching and/or indexing thereof. The methods provided permit the filtering of files containing only flow-format elements, files containing only elements representing fixed-format pages, and/or files containing both flow-format and elements representing fixed-format pages.

Abstract: Conducting client-server inter-process communications is disclosed. Such communications include initiating an inter-process communication thread that is separate from a main client inter-process communication thread, where the inter-process communication thread that is separate from the main client inter-process communication thread establishes a connection with a server. A client communication port is created during the establishment of the connection with the server. One or more non-blocking asynchronous communications are transmitted to a server communication port. Responses to the one or more non-blocking asynchronous communications are awaited for receipt by the client communication port.

Abstract: Disclosed is a central cache that is updated without the overhead of locking. Updates are “atomic” in that they cannot be interrupted part way through. Applications are always free to read data in the cache, accessing the data through a reference table. Applications do not directly update the cache, instead, they send update requests to a service routine. To update the cache, the service routine proceeds in two phases. In the first phase, the service routine prepares the new data and adds them to the cache, without updating the reference table. During the first phase, an application accessing the cache cannot “see” the new data because the reference table has not yet been updated. After the first phase is complete, the service routine performs the second phase of the update process: atomically updating the reference table. The two-phase update process leaves the cache, at all times, in a consistent state.

Abstract: Disclosed is a central cache that is updated without the overhead of locking. Updates are “atomic” in that they cannot be interrupted part way through. Applications are always free to read data in the cache, accessing the data through a reference table. Applications do not directly update the cache, instead, they send update requests to a service routine. To update the cache, the service routine proceeds in two phases. In the first phase, the service routine prepares the new data and adds them to the cache, without updating the reference table. During the first phase, an application accessing the cache cannot “see” the new data because the reference table has not yet been updated. After the first phase is complete, the service routine performs the second phase of the update process: atomically updating the reference table. The two-phase update process leaves the cache, at all times, in a consistent state.

Abstract: Disclosed is a central cache that is updated without the overhead of locking. Updates are “atomic” in that they cannot be interrupted part way through. Applications are always free to read data in the cache, accessing the data through a reference table. Applications do not directly update the cache, instead, they send update requests to a service routine. To update the cache, the service routine proceeds in two phases. In the first phase, the service routine prepares the new data and adds them to the cache, without updating the reference table. During the first phase, an application accessing the cache cannot “see” the new data because the reference table has not yet been updated. After the first phase is complete, the service routine performs the second phase of the update process: atomically updating the reference table. The two-phase update process leaves the cache, at all times, in a consistent state.

Abstract: Hardware acceleration of the rending and animation of characters that treat each pixel sub-component as a distinct luminance intensity source. A bit-map representation of the sub-component-oriented character is generated by using a single image sample to generate each pixel sub-component. This may be accomplished by, for example overscaling a representation of the character, placing the overscaled representation of the character on grid, and then assigning a luminance and possibly a transparency value to each grid position based on the property of the overscaled character at the grid position. The, the character is rendered by interfacing with a hardware graphic unit that perform the final rendering and animation of the character.

Abstract: Disclosed is a central cache that is updated without the overhead of locking. Updates are “atomic” in that they cannot be interrupted part way through. Applications are always free to read data in the cache, accessing the data through a reference table. Applications do not directly update the cache, instead, they send update requests to a service routine. To update the cache, the service routine proceeds in two phases. In the first phase, the service routine prepares the new data and adds them to the cache, without updating the reference table. During the first phase, an application accessing the cache cannot “see” the new data because the reference table has not yet been updated. After the first phase is complete, the service routine performs the second phase of the update process: atomically updating the reference table. The two-phase update process leaves the cache, at all times, in a consistent state.

Abstract: Hardware acceleration of the rendering and animation of characters that treat each pixel sub-component as a distinct luminance intensity source. A bit-map representation of the sub-component-oriented character is generated by using a single image sample to generate each pixel sub-component. This may be accomplished by, for example, overscaling a representation of the character, placing the overscaled representation of the character on a grid, and then assigning a luminance and possibly a transparency value to each grid position based on the properties of the overscaled character at that grid position. Then, the character is rendered by interfacing with a hardware graphics unit that performs the final rendering and animation of the character.