Abstract:
A computer executable message system and the method thereof are disclosed. During the operation of a computer screen saver program, a received trigger is checked to determine whether to generate a message input window or to display the entered message. This allows the user to obtain messages left by a visitor.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of Invention  
         [0002]     The invention relates to a computer executable message system and the method thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and the corresponding method that use a screen saver program to check a trigger signal, thereby determining whether to receive or display a message.  
         [0003]     2. Related Art  
         [0004]     In the usual office operation mechanism, a person may have to temporarily leave his or her seat for some reason. If his or her supervisors, colleagues, friends, or family happen to be looking for him or her at the time, they usually leave a message so that the person can know who has just visited once returning to the seat.  
         [0005]     Since computers have become an indispensable tool in offices to replace traditional word processing environment comprised of pens and paper. To reduce the aging of computer screens and the company cost, screen saver programs are often used to protect the screens when the computers are temporarily not in use.  
         [0006]     Although computerized offices can enhance work efficiency, the traditional way of leaving a message on the desk of a person is still inconvenient because the message may be ignored, removed, or read by other people, resulting in unnecessary disturbance or troubles. One thus sees that the traditional way of leaving messages has a problem in the security and privacy.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     In view of the foregoing, the invention provides a computer executable message system and the method thereof. A trigger signal is used to determine whether to provide a message input window or to display the entered message.  
         [0008]     An objective of the invention is to provide a computer executable message system and the method thereof, using which people can use the computer to leave a message for the computer user.  
         [0009]     To achieve the above-mentioned objective, the disclosed system includes a message database, a determination and reception unit, a recording and extracting module, and a screen saver program database.  
         [0010]     The disclosed method mainly includes two parts: one being the visitor leaving a message and the other being the computer user reading the message. The first part includes the following steps. The system receives any trigger signal from a visitor to provide a message input window. After the visitor enters the message, the system receives the visitor&#39;s message and stores it in the message database. The second part includes the following steps. The computer user sends out an exclusive signal. After receiving the exclusive signal, the system reads out the message stored in the message database. Afterwards, the system displays the message to the computer user.  
         [0011]     In summary, we see that the invention can solve the problems existing in the prior art and achieve the following effects: 
        1. The message for the computer user can be correctly and surely transmitted.     2. The resources in the computer will not be readily obtained by unauthorized people.       
 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a structure of the disclosed message system;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2 -A is a flowchart of how a visitor can leave a message; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 2 -B is a flowchart of how a computer user can read the stored messages. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]     The disclosed computer executable message system and method uses a trigger signal to determine whether to provide a message input window or to display an entered message. Therefore, the invention pertains to a system and a method that use a computer to transmit a message for the computer user.  
         [0019]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the disclosed message system  110  includes a message database  120 , a screen saver program  130 , a determination and reception unit  140 , and a recording and extracting module  150 .  
         [0020]     The computer user or visitor can perform settings or operations on the message system  110  through a user operating interface (UOI)  100 . The functions of each part in the message  110  are described as follows.  
         [0021]     The message database  120  stores and provides the message left by the visitor. The screen saver program database  130  stores and provides screen saver programs. The determination and reception unit  140  receives a trigger signal, a message, or a selection command and performs a corresponding determination procedure. The recording and extracting module  150  saves and reads the message in the message database  120 . It further extracts a screen saver program from the screen saver program database  130 .  
         [0022]     Before the operation of the system, the computer user has to perform settings and operations on the message system  110  via the UOI  100 . When the determination and reception unit  140  receives the screen saver program set by the user, the recording and extracting module  150  immediately extracts out the screen saver program from the screen saver program database  130  to use.  
         [0023]     If there is a visitor using the computer, the determination and reception unit  140  of the message system  110  receives a trigger signal and performs a determination procedure. A command is transmitted accordingly to the recording and extracting module  150 . The recording and extracting module  150  then provides a message input window or extracts a list of messages from the message database  130  for the computer user to select.  
         [0024]     The trigger signal mentioned above can be sent out by hitting a key, moving a mouse, or clicking a mouse button. Through the system settings, one can set a special key (e.g. F1) or a special key hitting (e.g. hitting F1 five times or clicking the right button of a mouse three times) to return to the operating system (OS).  
         [0025]     After describing the system operation structure of the invention, we use  FIG. 2 -A and  FIG. 2 -B to explain the disclosed method.  
         [0026]     As shown in  FIG. 2 -A, the message system immediately extracts a screen saver program from the screen saver program database  130  to use after the computer user starts the message system. When the computer user or a visitor hits any key on the keyboard, clicks a button on the mouse, or moves the mouse, a trigger signal is sent out to the system. After the system receives the trigger signal (step  210 ), it determines whether the trigger signal is a return-to-OS signal (step  220 ). If so, then the procedure continues to  FIG. 2 -B to verify the identification (step  240 ). Otherwise, the screen saver program is paused and a message input window is provided (step  230 ) for the visitor to enter a message. After the visitor sends out the message, the system receives and stores the message (step  231 ). Afterwards, the screen saver is turned back on and the message system keeps running (step  232 ).  
         [0027]     As shown in  FIG. 2 -B, an identification verification procedure is performed when the trigger signal is a return-to-OS signal (step  240 ). The user is asked to enter the user account name and password for verification. The user account name and password are used to determine whether it is a user of the OS (step  241 ). Once the user passes the verification procedure, the screen saver program is immediately stopped and the system checks whether there is any message left for the user (step  242 ). If no message exists in the message database  120 , the system returns to the OS (step  247 ) and stops the operation of the message system. If there is a message in the message database  120 , the system provides a list of the message titles (step  243 ) for the user to select. Once the computer selects a message title, the system receives the selection command (step  244 ) and displays the main body of the message (step  245 ) for the user. After the computer user shuts down the message display window, the system keeps checking whether there is still any other stored message (step  246 ). If so, then the system returns to step  243 ; otherwise, the system returns to the OS (step  247 ). The message system stops running, and the user resumes the normal computer operation.  
         [0028]     Certain variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art, which variations are considered within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention.