Abstract: A computer system, user interface component and method utilize a non-linear scroll bar to provide variable mappings between a scroll bar and different portions of a document, and/or between a scroll bar and different subranges of a range of values selectable by the scroll bar. As a result, a scroll bar may be configured to vary the relative scroll rate of a portion of a document to either emphasize or de-emphasize that portion relative to other portions of the document. Generally, emphasized portions of a document are allocated a relatively larger portion of a scroll bar (i.e., with a relatively lower scroll rate), such that navigation to and within such portions is facilitated relative to other portions of the document.

Abstract: A computer system and method of displaying hypertext documents indicate an update status for a particular hypertext document in association with the display of a hypertext link definition pointing to that document. In addition, one or more specific notification criteria are utilized to determine when a document has been updated. A notification criteria may be based upon a user selection of a selected portion of a document, such that changes to another portion of the document do not trigger an indication of an updated document. A notification criteria may also be based on a specific keyword search criteria selected by a user. A notification criteria may further be based on a relative change threshold for a document, such that changes to a document falling below the threshold are not indicated to a user.

Abstract: A display window is displayed in association with at least one scroll bar at a terminal associated with a first user. Along the shaft of one ore more scroll bars, a distinctive visual location cue, such as a line in a color associated with a second user, is displayed to indicate the relative location within the shared data collection of the current and historical activity of a second user. A user may temporarily prohibit manipulation of a region within the shared data collection by other users by establishing a "lock" on the region. A lock region may comprise several lines of text, a portion of a graphical object, or other data within the shared data collection. To indicate the location of lock regions, lock region location cues are also displayed along the scroll bar.

Abstract: A computer system and method display internal and external hypertext link definitions in different representations to simplify a user's recognition of the external/internal status of each hypertext link definition in a document. Additional information, such as the direction from an internal hypertext link definition to the location in the document pointed to by that definition, and/or the absolute or relative position of the location pointed to by an internal hypertext link definition, may also be displayed. Moreover, a computer system and method may also display the position of the location pointed to by an internal hypertext link definition on a scroll bar such that location information about a particular document is centralized within a common user interface component.

Abstract: A method and system for use with a graphical user interface having a cursor, scroll bar, and slider provide consistent granularity in scrolling through various differently sized viewable objects displayed within a window of a graphical user interface. The method and system achieves the forgoing by (1) calculating a movement parameter dependent upon the length of a viewable object; and (2) scrolling through the viewable object at a rate dependent upon the calculated movement parameter, in response to user input.

Abstract: A data processing system and method of invoking a function within a data processing system are disclosed. The data processing system includes a processing unit, a display device that displays graphical objects in response to receipt of signals from the processing unit, a memory coupled to the processing unit, and a graphical user interface (GUI) manager stored within the memory and executable by the processing unit. In accordance with the method of the present invention, first and second graphical objects are displayed within the display device. The second graphical object includes a plurality of regions that each have an associated function. In response to a selection of the first graphical object, a determination is made whether the first graphical object is within a selected proximity of the second graphical object.

Abstract: A television presentation and editing system uses closed captioning text to locate items of interest. A closed captioning decoder extracts a closed captioning digital text stream from a television signal. A viewer specifies one or more keywords to be used as search parameters. A digital processor executing a control program scans the closed captioning digital text stream for words or phrases matching the search parameters. The corresponding segment of the television broadcast may then be displayed, edited or saved. In one mode of operation, the television presentation system may be used to scan one or more television channels unattended, and save items which may be of interest to the viewer. In another mode of operation, the system may be used to assist editing previously stored video by quickly locating segments of interest.

Abstract: A television presentation and editing system uses closed captioning text to locate items of interest. A closed captioning decoder extracts a closed captioning digital text stream from a television signal. A viewer specifies one or more keywords to be used as search parameters. A digital processor executing a control program scans the closed captioning digital text stream for words or phrases matching the search parameters. The corresponding segment of the television broadcast may then be displayed, edited or saved. In one mode of operation, the television presentation system may be used to scan one or more television channels unattended, and save items which may be of interest to the viewer. In another mode of operation, the system may be used to assist editing previously stored video by quickly locating segments of interest.

Abstract: The disclosed data stream optimization process is containing two logical entities, the first being the pre-comparison optimizer component and the second being the comparison component. The pre-comparison optimizer component performs two discrete tasks. First, the input data stream is written into a next state buffer. Second, the elimination of redundancies involves detecting and removing redundant screen attributes, since the terminal's execution time for processing a screen attribute is more than that required for a data character. The comparison component contains three distinct sub-components. First, non-data constructs such as commands and orders are optimized and placed in the outgoing data stream. Second, the screen image that is represented by the data stream is compared to the existing screen image to further reduce the outgoing data stream.