Patents by Inventor Richard D. Hoffman

Richard D. Hoffman has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20020194217
    Abstract: A computer for implementing a method for generating metadata objects is disclosed. A graphical user interface of the computer displays a spreadsheet including metadata information and/or metadata directives. The graphical user interface further provides a command to convert the spreadsheet into a comma separated value file. Upon a conversion of the spreadsheet to the comma separated value file, the metadata information therein is parsed in accordance with any metadata directives therein to thereby generate the metadata objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2001
    Publication date: December 19, 2002
    Applicant: International Business Machnies Corporation
    Inventors: Richard D. Hoffman, Michael A. Perks, Sean Michael Sundberg
  • Patent number: 5446858
    Abstract: A method, system and process for providing an improved database blocking technique for updatable and scrollable cursors is disclosed. The invention is facilitated by the operation of a process in the memory of a processor. The processor, under the control of the process, builds a reserved area in the memory of the computer. The reserved area in the memory contains an image of a portion of the information residing on disk in the database. When an application opens a cursor to a database, the type of blocking is specified for that cursor. The application issues a fetch request, and if the row is not in the block in the reserved area in the memory, then a remote procedure call is performed to get the required next block of rows and return the block containing the rows back to the application. Various lock data structures are employed to manage and control the processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 29, 1995
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: George P. Copeland, Richard D. Hoffman, Timothy R. Malkemus, Marc G. Smith
  • Patent number: 5261102
    Abstract: A method and computer system are disclosed for determining the access privileges currently held by a database user with respect to objects in the database. The steps of the method are: (a) requesting a determination of those objects to which a given user has access privileges; (b) automatically determining those objects to which the user has direct access privileges; and (c) automatically determining those objects to which the user has indirect access privileges. This last step (c) is accomplished by (1) automatically determining all access groups to which the user belongs; and (2) automatically determining those objects to which those access groups, determined in step (1), have access privileges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1993
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Richard D. Hoffman
  • Patent number: 4428057
    Abstract: An electronic chart system in which charts of the earth are stored in digital representation and communicated to the operator by a visual display. Through the use of a Loran-C receiver or the like, the system additionally plots the carrier's position on the visual representation of the chart. The visual display is a cathode ray tube on which the visual representation is compressed or expanded to meet the demands of the operator so that the appropriate resolution is thereby obtained. To minimize memory size an encoding format is used which provides a data word for indicating the first physical element of the run line, a data word for the number of runs per line and data words for the lengths of N-1 runs of up to two variables for each line of the chart.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 24, 1984
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Jerry Setliff, Gerald Burnham, Michael Smith, Richard D. Hoffman