Method and apparatus for displaying and accessing control and status information in a computer system

Abstract

An interactive computer-controlled display system having a processor, a data display screen, a cursor control device for interactively positioning a cursor on the data display screen, and a window generator that generates and displays a window on a data display screen. The window region provides status and control information in one or more data display areas. The individiual data display areas may be controlled through the use of controls and indicators on the control strip itself using cursor control keys.

I claim:  
     
         1 . An interactive computer-controlled display system comprising: 
 a processor;    a data display screen coupled to the processor;    a cursor control device coupled to said processor for positioning a cursor on said data display screen;    a window generation logic coupled to the processor and data display screen to generate and display a first window region on said data display screen;    indicia generation logic coupled to the data display to generate data for display in at least one display area in the first window, wherein a display area is sensitive to user input, and further wherein the window generation logic and the indicia generation logic use message-based communication to exchange information to coordinate activities of the indicia generation logic to enable interactive display activity.    
     
     
         2 . The display system defined in  claim 1  wherein the first window region comprises a control strip.  
     
     
         3 . The display system defined in  claim 1  wherein said at least one display area is variably sized.  
     
     
         4 . The display system defined in  claim 1  wherein size of the first window region is variable.  
     
     
         5 . The display system defined in  claim 4  wherein the first window regions is sized such that none of the display areas are visible.  
     
     
         6 . The display system defined in  claim 4  wherein the first window regions is sized such that all of the display areas are visible.  
     
     
         7 . The display system defined in  claim 4  wherein the first window regions is sized such that a portion of the display areas are visible.  
     
     
         8 . The display system defined in  claim 1  wherein at least one of the data areas only displays information.  
     
     
         9 . The display system defined in  claim 1  wherein at least one of the data areas act to provide access to control information when selected.  
     
     
         10 . The display system defined in  claim 9  wherein said at least one of the data areas display an additional display element.  
     
     
         11 . An interactive computer-controlled display system comprising: 
 a processor;    a data display screen coupled to the processor;    a cursor control device coupled to said processor for positioning a cursor on said data display screen;    window generation and control logic coupled to the processor and data display screen to generate and display a first window region on said data display screen, wherein the first window region comprises at least one data display area;    at least one indicia graphics generation logic coupled to the processor and the window generation logic, wherein said at least one indicia graphics generation logic generates user sensitive graphics for display in said at least one data display area;    wherein the window generation logic determines when said at least one data display area has been selected by the user and signals said at least one indicia graphics generation logic in response to user selection, and further wherein said at least one indicia graphics generation logic initiates a response.    
     
     
         12 . The display system defined in  claim 11  wherein the first window is always visible to the user.  
     
     
         13 . The display system defined in  claim 11  wherein the first window region comprises a control strip.  
     
     
         14 . The display system defined in  claim 11  wherein said at least one display area is variably sized.  
     
     
         15 . A method for generating control information comprising the steps of: 
 generating a first window sized to accommodate at least one display area for indicia, wherein the step of generating the first window comprises executing a first programming module;    displaying an indicia in each of said at least one display area by executing one of a plurality of programming modules corresponding to each indicia;    selecting one of the indicia, wherein the step of selecting comprises the first programming module determining which of said at least one display area is selected and sending a message to the programming module of said plurality of programming modules responsible for generating the display of the selected indicia;    said programming module performing a function in response to the selection.    
     
     
         16 . The method defined in  claim 15  wherein one of said plurality of indicia comprises status information.  
     
     
         17 . The method defined in  claim 15  wherein one of said plurality of indicia comprises control information.  
     
     
         18 . The method defined in  claim 15  further comprising the steps of: 
 the first programming module requesting a set of features supported by said programming module, wherein said step of requesting comprises sending a message to said programming module; and  
 said programming module returning a message indicative of features supported by said programming module, such that said first programming module interacts with said programming module in response to user interaction with the first programming module based on indicated features as set forth by said programming module.