Abstract:
A slanted viewer is provided to maximize data visibility. In the context of computer graphics and a rendering technique, the slanted viewer&#39;s use of three-dimensional rendering provides an instant view of full data without compromising the visibility of other view areas or data and with minimum user interactions. The slanted viewer combines the use of two-dimensional and three-dimensional concepts to enhance, as well as to preserve, a well-established user interaction environment and navigation system. The slanted viewer serves effectively in viewers showing extended length of text or objects horizontally.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application is related to and claims priority to Canadian Patent Application No. 2,489,613, filed on Dec. 7, 2004, entitled MAXIMIZE DATA VISIBILITY USING SLATED VIEWER, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Technical Field 
   The present invention relates to maximizing data visibility. Particularly, the present invention provides a slanted viewer that uses depth as a three-dimensional volume to provide an instant view of full data without compromising the visibility of other view areas or data in the well-established two-dimensional environment and conventional navigation to which users are accustomed. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   A file viewer is an application used for displaying file and directory listings and information. A file viewer may also control searching functions and file type associations (based on filename extensions). A file viewer may also make use of navigational arrows (back and forward) for moving between recently visited directories. This feature has proven to be a useful feature that has been emulated by other file browsing systems. 
   In the state of today&#39;s information technology, the amount of information available grows exponentially, particularly compared to the amount of space that is available for display or visualization. Current display devices are often described as rectangular, flat screens. Very often lengthy data being displayed would be hidden off the screen or viewing area. Currently, this kind of viewing limitation can be addressed by use of commonly known scroll bars in either the horizontal axis or the vertical axis or by resizing the viewing area. Users often manually ‘scroll’ within the viewer to or ‘expand’ the viewer as a means of revealing the hidden portion of the data. 
   Although scrolling or expanding a viewer is functionally satisfying, it is lacking the instant preview of full content. Furthermore, the aforementioned way of increasing the visibility of one data is in a trade off of lesser visibility of another set of data. This is due to the nature of the two-dimensional viewing facility. If one expands a view area resided in a ‘viewer,’ the area that is ‘behind’ it would get covered up further. The same issue holds true when the user scrolls to the hidden area; things that were visible would become hidden. Lastly, viewing hidden data requires constant manual or human interactions to perform such operations as scrolling or expanding. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a method, apparatus and computer instructions to maximize data visibility to a user through the use of a slanted viewer. The exemplary aspects of the present invention use three dimensions, in the context of computer graphics and a rendering technique, to provide an instant view of full data without compromising the visibility of other view areas or data and with minimum user interactions. The slanted viewer combines the use of two-dimensional and three-dimensional concepts to enhance, as well as to preserve, a well-established user interaction environment and navigation system. The slanted viewer serves effectively in viewers showing extended length of text or objects horizontally. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a pictorial representation of a network of data processing systems in which the present invention may be implemented; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a data processing system that may be implemented as a server in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented; 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary view of a conventional viewer; 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary view of the partial file or folder names that are viewed in the convention viewer; 
       FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary view of the complete file or folder names that may be normally hidden in a convention viewer when the columns are narrowed; 
       FIG. 7  is a flow diagram illustrating the rendering the complete text of files or folder names within a fixed size viewer in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary view of file or folder names in a two-dimensional view using a limited horizontal space viewer; and 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a two-dimensional slanted viewer of files or folder names in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a method, apparatus and computer instructions in a data processing system to maximize data visibility to a user through the use of a slanted viewer. The data processing device may be a stand-alone computing device or may be a distributed data processing system in which multiple computing devices are utilized to perform various aspects of the present invention. Therefore, the following  FIGS. 1-3  are provided as exemplary diagrams of data processing environments in which the present invention may be implemented. It should be appreciated that  FIGS. 1-3  are only exemplary and are not intended to assert or imply any limitation with regard to the environments in which the present invention may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
   With reference now to the figures,  FIG. 1  depicts a pictorial representation of a network of data processing systems in which the present invention may be implemented. Network data processing system  100  is a network of computers in which the present invention may be implemented. Network data processing system  100  contains a network  102 , which is the medium used to provide communications links between various devices and computers connected together within network data processing system  100 . Network  102  may include connections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables. 
   In the depicted example, server  104  is connected to network  102  along with storage unit  106 . In addition, clients  108 ,  110 , and  112  are connected to network  102 . These clients  108 ,  110 , and  112  may be, for example, personal computers or network computers. In the depicted example, server  104  provides data, such as boot files, operating system images, and applications to clients  108 - 112 . Clients  108 ,  110 , and  112  are clients to server  104 . Network data processing system  100  may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown. 
   In the depicted example, network data processing system  100  is the Internet with network  102  representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, government, educational and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, network data processing system  100  also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks, such as for example, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN).  FIG. 1  is intended as an example, and not as an architectural limitation for the present invention. 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram of a data processing system that may be implemented as a server, such as server  104  in  FIG. 1 , is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Data processing system  200  may be a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) system including a plurality of processors  202  and  204  connected to system bus  206 . Alternatively, a single processor system may be employed. Also connected to system bus  206  is memory controller/cache  208 , which provides an interface to local memory  209 . I/O bus bridge  210  is connected to system bus  206  and provides an interface to I/O bus  212 . Memory controller/cache  208  and I/O bus bridge  210  may be integrated as depicted. 
   Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus bridge  214  connected to I/O bus  212  provides an interface to PCI local bus  216 . A number of modems may be connected to PCI local bus  216 . Typical PCI bus implementations will support four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. Communications links to clients  108 - 112  in  FIG. 1  may be provided through modem  218  and network adapter  220  connected to PCI local bus  216  through add-in connectors. 
   Additional PCI bus bridges  222  and  224  provide interfaces for additional PCI local buses  226  and  228 , from which additional modems or network adapters may be supported. In this manner, data processing system  200  allows connections to multiple network computers. A memory-mapped graphics adapter  230  and hard disk  232  may also be connected to I/O bus  212  as depicted, either directly or indirectly. 
   Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in  FIG. 2  may vary. For example, other peripheral devices, such as optical disk drives and the like, also may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted. The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. 
   The data processing system depicted in  FIG. 2  may be, for example, an IBM eServer™ pSeries® system, a product of International Business Machines Corporation in Armonk, N.Y., running the Advanced Interactive Executive (AIX™) operating system or LINUX operating system. 
   With reference now to  FIG. 3 , a block diagram of a data processing system is shown in which the present invention may be implemented. Data processing system  300  is an example of a computer, such as client  108  in  FIG. 1 , in which code or instructions implementing the processes of the present invention may be located. In the depicted example, data processing system  300  employs a hub architecture including a north bridge and memory controller hub (MCH)  308  and a south bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (ICH)  310 . Processor  302 , main memory  304 , and graphics processor  318  are connected to MCH  308 . Graphics processor  318  may be connected to the MCH through an accelerated graphics port (AGP), for example. 
   In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter  312 , audio adapter  316 , keyboard and mouse adapter  320 , modem  322 , read only memory (ROM)  324 , hard disk drive (HDD)  326 , CD-ROM driver  330 , universal serial bus (USB) ports and other communications ports  332 , and PCI/PCIe devices  334  may be connected to ICH  310 . PCI/PCIe devices may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-in cards, PC cards for notebook computers, etc. PCI uses a cardbus controller, while PCIe does not. ROM  324  may be, for example, a flash binary input/output system (BIOS). Hard disk drive  326  and CD-ROM drive  330  may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics IDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface. A super I/O (SIO) device  336  may be connected to ICH  310 . 
   An operating system runs on processor  302  and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system  300  in  FIG. 3 . The operating system may be a commercially available operating system such as Windows XP™, which is available from Microsoft Corporation. An object oriented programming system, such as the Java™ programming system, may run in conjunction with the operating system and provides calls to the operating system from Java™ programs or applications executing on data processing system  300 . “JAVA” is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. 
   Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programming system, and applications or programs are located on storage devices, such as hard disk drive  326 , and may be loaded into main memory  304  for execution by processor  302 . The processes of the present invention are performed by processor  302  using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in a memory such as, for example, main memory  304 , memory  324 , or in one or more peripheral devices  326  and  330 . 
   Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in  FIG. 3  may vary depending on the implementation. Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory, equivalent non-volatile memory, or optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in  FIG. 3 . Also, the processes of the present invention may be applied to a multiprocessor data processing system. 
   For example, data processing system  300  may be a personal digital assistant (PDA), which is configured with flash memory to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating system files and/or user-generated data. The depicted example in  FIG. 3  and above-described examples are not meant to imply architectural limitations. For example, data processing system  300  also may be a tablet computer, laptop computer, or telephone device in addition to taking the form of a PDA. 
   Although the invention is a general-purpose technique and addresses a much broader issue, the exemplary aspects of the presently claimed invention are directed to a file viewer. The particular application of interest is the table viewer or list viewer of a file viewer.  FIG. 4  depicts an exemplary view of a conventional viewer. In this conventional viewer, the file or folder names are displayed in a multi-column table. Very often the complete text of the name, size, type and modified columns may not be fully displayed in the viewer, given limited space, and a portion of the displayed text is hidden. 
   In many cases, partial text is neither meaningful nor immediately comprehensible to a user. To adjust the visibility, the user may use the option of expanding the width of the column. As the user expands the column width, the information to the right is gradually hidden from the screen. In order to view the information that has been hidden off the screen, the user would need to scroll within a viewer to or expand the viewer to see the rest of the information. 
     FIG. 5  depicts an exemplary view of the partial file or folder names that are viewed in the convention viewer of  FIG. 4 . As depicted in this diagram, the file or folder names are not readily meaningful to the user as a portion of the text has been hidden due to the column being narrowed to allow the other details of the files or folders (e.g. size, type, modified) to be viewed by the user. The partial view shown in  FIG. 5  limits the view of the entire text of the files or folders names which are shown in  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  depicts an exemplary view of the complete file or folder names that may be normally hidden in a convention viewer when the columns are narrowed. 
   Turning now to  FIG. 7 , a flow diagram  700  illustrating the operation rendering the complete text of files or folder names within a fixed size viewer is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The slanted viewing capability may be set as default or triggered by user input through a mouse click, a button, or a modified key whichever is appropriate. The process begins with rotation direction being specified, left-to-right or right-to-left, depending which end provides more details (block  702 ). Then, it continues with determining the horizontal size of the viewer in which the two-dimensional file or folder text is displayed (block  704 ). Once the horizontal size of the viewer has been determined, a check is made to see if a default text width has been specified by the user (block  706 ). If a default text width has been specified, then a rotation angle is determined based on the horizontal size of the viewer, the default text width and the specified direction of text rotation (block  708 ). Then the two-dimensional text that is displayed in the viewer is rendered using a three-dimensional slanted format that allows the user to see the entire text of the file or folder names within a limited horizontal space viewer (block  710 ) with the process terminating thereafter. 
   Returning to block  706 , if there is not a default text width specified, a determination is made of the maximum horizontal size of the text within the two-dimensional displayed text (block  712 ). A determination is then made to see if the maximum horizontal size of the text is too long, which would cause the three-dimensional slanted rendering of the text to be distorted and unreadable (block  714 ). If the maximum horizontal size of the text is determined to be too long, the width of the viewer may be adjusted automatically and a default text width is determined that would allow the text to be clearly rendered within a limited horizontal space using the three-dimensional slanted format (block  716 ). Then a rotation angle is determined based on the horizontal size of the viewer, the default text width and the specified direction of text rotation (block  708 ). Then the two-dimensional text that is displayed in the viewer is rendered using a three-dimensional slanted format that allows the user to see the entire text of the file or folder names within a limited horizontal space viewer (block  710 ) with the process terminating thereafter. 
   Returning to block  714 , if the maximum horizontal size of the text is determined not to be too long, then a rotation angle is determined based on the horizontal size of the viewer, the maximum horizontal size of the two-dimensional text and the specified direction of text rotation (block  718 ). Then the two-dimensional text that is displayed in the viewer is rendered using a three-dimensional slanted format that allows the user to see the entire text of the file or folder names within a limited horizontal space viewer (block  710 ) with the process terminating thereafter. 
     FIG. 8  depicts an exemplary view of file or folder names in a two-dimensional view using a limited horizontal space viewer. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 9  depicts the same files or folder names within a limited horizontal space viewer of  FIG. 8  in a two-dimensional slanted view with rotation from left to right after being processed in the manner detailed with respect to  FIG. 7 . 
   In summary, the present invention provides a method, apparatus and computer instructions to render two-dimensional text in a three-dimensional slanted angle format. The text graphics are rotated about the y-axis. As a result, the rotated text requires less amount of space along the x-axis (horizontally) but extended along the z-axis (to create depth). Thereby, the full text becomes visible while the horizontal space requirement is retained. 
   The calculation of the rotation angle is based on the size along the horizontal axis. In order to retain the width of the view area, the lesser the horizontal space, the more the text is rotated. However, the rotation might have distortion effect on the text of the far end. The distortion effect is intensified as the rotation angle increases. 
   Possible solutions to resolve the distortion are rotating the text in a different direction or using a default text length. In rotating the direction of the three-dimensional slanted text, the user could choose which direction provides the most details that the user deems valuable. With setting the default text width, the width of each column would be automatically adjusted so that all information is displayed properly in the most detailed manner. 
   It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions in a computer program product and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a RAM, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and transmission-type media, such as digital and analog communications links, wired or wireless communications links using transmission forms, such as, for example, radio frequency and light wave transmissions. The computer readable media may take the form of coded formats that are decoded for actual use in a particular data processing system. 
   The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.