Patent Application
20090094549
The present invention relates to a display system, and more particularly, to locating newly invoked displays in a multi-window computer environment.
Existing multi-window computer environments do not differentiate between multiple open displays with identical window and sub-window configurations. This lack of display differentiation between parent displays and newly invoked displays inhibits the ability for a potential automated window management system to provide newly invoked display placement.
In many applications, including plant control networks, an operator may monitor one or more computer screens with each computer screen containing multiple displays representing similar or identical processes or events. As the operator interacts with the screens and displays, displays may often change status back and forth from “active” and “non-active”. In real-time feedback applications, new displays are often invoked and for a variety of reasons. In addition, the formatting of many of the newly invoked displays does not uniquely identify a single parent display. Due to these factors, current automated window management systems may not always intelligently and predictively disposition newly invoked displays in a multi-windows computer display environment.
Accordingly, an efficient and effective device, system, and method are needed for ensuring that human-computer interaction display windows are intelligently and predictively dispositioned with respect to the currently active window.
It is, therefore, an objective of the present invention to provide devices and methods for appropriately locating newly invoked displays in a multi-window display environment. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the device may control a computer window display of a multi-window display environment. A newly invoked display may be located precisely in proximity to the display from which the new display was invoked, even in the case when the receiving display is not the currently active display. The device may track currently active displays, identify the display that is determined to have been active immediately prior to the invoking of the new display, and display each newly invoked display on the same display as previously identified.
According to an exemplary embodiment, the device may additionally locate a newly invoked display identified as a critical display. The device may receive a display created in response to a display request inputted to a system; determine whether each display is a critical display according to its display specification file; and if the newly invoked display is determined to be a critical display, promote the display status of both the newly invoked display and its' receiving display to an always-on-top status. In an exemplary embodiment, the device may be used in a multi-window display environment in which two or more of the displays in the environment have identical display characteristics.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the method may involve the following steps. Currently active displays may be tracked and recorded. The display that is determined to have been active immediately prior to a newly invoked display may be identified to be the receiving display. The newly invoked display may be displayed in the appropriate section of the receiving display, as determined by the window specification file. In an alternate embodiment, the newly invoked display may be displayed in close proximity to the parent display. In an exemplary embodiment, the method of appropriately locating a newly invoked display may be performed through the use of a display management system.
The above and other objectives and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
Before describing embodiments of the present invention, it will be helpful to understand a system environment in which the present invention may be utilized. Referring to
The plant control network 11, in conjunction with a plant operator interacting with a computer display, supervise the controlled process. The plant control network 11 may comprise the following physical modules: a universal operator station (US) 122, an application module (AM) 124, a history module (HM) 126, a computer module (CM) 128, and any backup or secondary modules necessary to monitor and control any given process. Each of these modules connect to a local control network (LCN) 120 which allows each of the modules to communicate with each other, as necessary. The network interface module NIM (602) interfaces the LCN 120 and the UCN 14. The hi way gateway (HG) 601 interfaces the LCN 120 and the data hi way 12.
The universal operator station (US) 122 may be a workstation for one or more plant operators. The history module (HM) 126 may provide mass data storage capability for binary data. The data stored may typically include trend histories, event histories, etc. The application module (AM) 124 may provide additional data processing capability to support the process control functions performed by the controllers associated with the process control subsystem 20, 20′. Examples of such processing capabilities may include data acquisition, alarming, batch history collection, and providing continuous control computational facilities when needed. The computer module (CM) 128 may comprise a general-purpose data processing system to communicate with other physical modules of the plant control network 11. The local control network (LCN) 120 may be a high-speed communication network that interconnects all of the physical modules of the plant control network 11.
Referring to
Each physical module may also contain a BUS interface unit (BIU) 32, which may connect to the LCN 120 through a transceiver 34. Communication between the module CPU 38, the module memory 40, and any additional units (not shown) may be performed through the common connection to a module BUS 36. Any additional units necessary to accommodate the functionality of a physical module may also be connected to the module BUS 36, therefore allowing communication between all of the units of the physical module via the module BUS 36.
The display system which incorporates an exemplary embodiment will now be described. Referring to
Components of the WSM 124 that are connected to the PC BUS 131 may include a graphics card 132, an Ethernet card 133, a microprocessor (up), and a WSM memory 135. An external keyboard 130 and mouse interface 136 may be used for inputting commands to the WSM 124. The graphics card 132 may additionally couple to a display 125. The Ethernet card 133 may allow the WSM 124 to communicate with external systems not coupled to the LCN 120. The microprocessor (up) 134 may execute an operating system and the Workspace Manager software. The WSM memory 135 may store information including configuration files critical to proper window display management. (Configuration files relevant to the present invention will be described later.)
In order to display multiple windows in an intelligent and predictable manner, characteristics of the display 125 of WSM 124 are configured in a predetermined manner. Referring to
In order to achieve the configuration of a display screen as represented in
In an exemplary plant process control application, displayed and monitored information may contain multiple separate displays which may be identical in fashion or appearance. Although the displays may appear identical, each display may represent different processes in the plant control network 11. An example of such a display screen on the display 125 of the WSM 124 is represented in
Referring to
Additional information on a portion of the process of creating and assigning specific window specification files may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,403 and is incorporated herein by reference. Additional information on the BIU 32 can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,974 and is incorporated herein by reference. A more detailed description of a process control system may be found by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,256. Additional description of the functional blocks of the physical modules may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,347 and is incorporated herein by reference. Additional information on the process controller 20′ may be had by referencing U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,464 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to
Under certain circumstances, a process control application may request a “critical” window that would signal to the operator that very close attention or immediate corrective action might be necessary. Such a critical window request may be identified as an alarm display or as a critical display. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the critical window request may be initially processed similarly to an ordinary display request. The proper configuration file may be identified by the workspace management program. A determination may be made as to which display surface was recorded to have been active immediately prior to the critical window request. The identified display surface may be recorded in the configuration file for the newly invoked critical window. The category of the newly invoked critical window may also be recorded in the same configuration file. Now the workspace management program may use the information in the configuration file to assign the newly invoked critical window an always-on-top status. In addition, the display surface receiving the critical window may also be assigned an always-on-top status, as the identity of this surface is stored in the configuration file for the newly invoked critical window. Therefore, the operator may be immediately notified and have access to the display surface governing the process in which the critical event took place.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described examples and embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration rather than of limitation and that the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.
