Patent ID: 6911987

Claim:
A method for transmitting representations of bitmaps from a first computer system to a second computer system, the method comprising: under control of the first computer system, under control of the first computer system; receiving a request to send a bitmap to the second computer system; determining whether the bitmap has been previously sent to the second computer system; when it is determined that the bitmap has not been previously sent to the second computer program, sending the bitmap to the second computer system; and when it is determined that the bitmap has been previously sent to the second system, determining whether the bitmap has been cached by the second computer system; when it is determined that the bitmap has not been cached by the second computer system, sending the bitmap to the second computer system along with an indication to cache the bitmap; and when it is determined that the bitmap has been cached by the second computer system, sending an indication of the cached bitmap to the second computer system.