Patent ID: 6324498
Filing Date: 2001-11-27
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method of indicating compatibility of programs that are accessible through a user interface of a computer, said method comprising the steps of;displaying a first symbol (IC, P1, . . . , P4) representative of a first accessible program;attaching a first coding or acoustic data format identifier (DF1, DF2, . . . , DF8) to the first symbol (IC, P1, . . . , P4) that indicates a data format that is input to the first accessible program;displaying a second symbol (IC, P1, . . . , P4) representative of a second accessible program;attaching a second coding or acoustic data format identifier (DF1, DF2, . . . , DF8) to the second symbol (IC, P1, . . . , P4) that indicates a corresponding data format that is output from the second accessible program;linking the first symbol (IC, P1, . . . , P4) of the first accessible program to the second symbol (IC, P1, . . . , P4) of the second accessible program; andcomparing the first coding or acoustic data format identifier (DF1, DF2, . . . , DF8) to the second coding or acoustic data format identifier (DF1, DF2, . . . , DF8) to determine the compatibility of the first accessible program with the second accessible program without equiring exchange.