The user may select the program object from the screen.
解答例
Once selected the program object executes on the user's (client) computer or may execute on a remote server or additional remote computers in a distributed processing arrangement.
After launching the program object, the user is able to interact with the object as the invention provides for ongoing interprocess communication between the application object (program) and the browser program.
One application of the embedded program object allows a user to view large and complex multi-dimensional objects from within the browser's window.
The user can manipulate a control panel to change the viewpoint used to view the image.
The invention allows a program to execute on a remote server or other computers to calculate the viewing transformations and send frame data to the client computer thus providing the user of the client computer with interactive features and allowing the user to have access to greater computing power than may be available at the user's client computer.
This invention relates generally to manipulating data in a computer network, and specifically to retrieving, presenting and manipulating embedded program objects in distributed hypermedia systems.
Computer networks are becoming increasingly popular as a medium for locating and accessing a wide range of data from locations all over the world.
The most popular global network is the Internet with millions of computer systems connected to it.
The Internet has become popular due to widely adopted standard protocols that allow a vast interconnection of computers and localized computer networks to communicate with each other.
Computer systems connected to a network such as the Internet may be of varying types, e.g., mainframes, workstations, personal computers, etc.
The computers are manufactured by different companies using proprietary hardware and operating systems and thus have incompatibilities in their instruction sets, busses, software, file formats and other aspects of their architecture and operating systems.
Localized computer networks connected to the Internet may be incompatible with other computer systems and localized networks in terms of the physical layer of communication including the specific hardware used to implement the network.
Also, different networks use differing, incompatible protocols for transferring information and are not able to communicate with each other without a translation mechanism such as a "gateway".
The Internet provides a uniform and open standard for allowing various computers and networks to communicate with each other.
For example, the Internet uses Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP") that defines a uniform packet-switched communication standard which is ultimately used in every transfer of information that takes place over the Internet.
Other Internet standards are the HyperText Transmission Protocol ("HTTP") that allows hypertext documents to be exchanged freely among any computers connected to the Internet and HyperText Markup Language ("HTML") that defines the way in which hypertext documents designate links to information. See, e.g., Berners-Lee, T. J., "The world-wide web," Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 25 (1992).
A hypertext document is a document that allows a user to view a text document displayed on a display device connected to the user's computer and to access, retrieve and view other data objects that are linked to hypertext words or phrases in the hypertext document.
In a hypertext document, the user may "click on," or select, certain words or phrases in the text that specify a link to other documents, or data objects.
In this way, the user is able to navigate easily among data objects.
The data objects may be local to the user's computer system or remotely located over a network.
An early hypertext system is Hypercard, by Apple Computer, Inc.
Hypercard is a standalone system where the data objects are local to the user's system.
When a user selects a phrase in a hypertext document that has an associated link to another document, the linked document is retrieved and displayed on the user's display screen.
This allows the user to obtain more information in an efficient and easy manner.
This provides the user with a simple, intuitive and powerful way to "branch off" from a main document to learn more about topics of interest.
Objects may be text, images, sound files, video data, documents or other types of information that is presentable to a user of a computer system.
When a document is primarily text and includes links to other data objects according to the hypertext format, the document is said to be a hypertext document.
When graphics, sound, video or other media capable of being manipulated and presented in a computer system is used as the object linked to, the document is said to be a hypermedia document.
A hypermedia document is similar to a hypertext document, except that the user is able to click on images, sound icons, video icons, etc., that link to other objects of various media types, such as additional graphics, sound, video, text, or hypermedia or hypertext documents.
