Electronic kiosk authoring system

Abstract

A multimedia kiosk authoring system for use in developing and maintaining user interface screens for multimedia kiosk systems. The authoring system enables the user interface for each individual kiosk to be customized quickly and easily within wide limits of variation, yet subject to constraints adhering the resulting interface to good standards of aesthetics and user friendliness. The system may be used to provide custom interfaces expeditiously even for hundreds of kiosks presenting information from numerous independent information sources. The authoring system uses the methods of object oriented programming to define specialized object classes for instantiation on individual kiosk interface screens subject to pre-defined limitations on variability. Links are provided to an appropriate database for multimedia presentations on an interface screen of content bearing information from the information providers.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In an electronic kiosk system having a plurality of interactive electronic kiosks for displaying information provided by a plurality of information providers, a method for defining custom interface screens customized for individual kiosks of said plurality and operable to make different assortments of said information available for display at different kiosks of said plurality, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a master database of information from said plurality of information providers, said master database referencing substantially all information content from said providers to be displayed on any of said plurality of kiosks;

providing a plurality of pre-defined interface screen element types, each element type defining a form of element available for presentation on said custom interface screens, wherein each said element type permits limited variation in its on-screen characteristics in conformity with a desired uniform and aesthetically pleasing look and feel for said interface screens on all kiosks of said kiosk system,

each element type having a plurality of attributes associated therewith, wherein each said element type and its associated attributes are subject to pre-defined constraints providing element characteristics in conformance with said uniform and aesthetically pleasing look and feel for said interface screens, and

wherein said plurality of pre-defined element types includes at least one pre-defined window type, at least one pre-defined button type, and at least one pre-defined multimedia type;

selecting a plurality of elements to be included in a custom interface screen under construction, said plurality of elements being selected from said plurality of pre-defined elements types, said plurality of selected elements including at least one button type;

assigning values to the attributes associated with each of said selected elements consistent with said pre-defined constraints, whereby the aggregate layout of said plurality of selected elements on said interface screen under construction will be aesthetically pleasing and functionally operable for effective delivery of information to a kiosk user;

selecting from said master database an assortment of information content deriving from selected ones of said information providers to define kiosk information content for an individual kiosk of said kiosk system;

associating said kiosk information content with at least a portion of said selected elements for said interface screen under construction; and

linking said at least one selected button type element to an action facilitating the viewing of at least portions of said kiosk information content by a kiosk user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting an assortment of information content from said master database further comprises the substep of:

maintaining a kiosk definition table for each kiosk of said kiosk system identifying the information content of said master database to be associated with the respective kiosk.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the substep of populating an individual kiosk definition table with the respective kiosk information content by querying said master database.

4. The method of claim 2, further including the steps of:

selecting a plurality of buttons of a first button type; and

placing said selected buttons on said interface screen according to a pre-configured pattern.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said step of selecting a plurality of buttons further comprises the substeps of:

selecting a category of information from said kiosk information content, said category including subdivisions of information;

querying said kiosk definition table to determine the count of said subdivisions of said category; and

selecting said buttons to correspond in number to said count of subdivisions, whereby said selected buttons are in one-to-one correspondence with said subdivisions.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of placing said selected buttons on said interface screen further comprises the steps of:

providing a mathematical formula for a pre-configured pattern of button screen coordinates as a function of the number of buttons; and

calculating the screen coordinates for said selected count of buttons according to said formula.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

providing an interface screen lookup table specifying said pre-configured pattern of button placement for each of a number of counts of buttons; and

placing said selected count of buttons on said interface screen in accordance with the pre-configured pattern specified in said interface screen lookup table for the count determined by querying said kiosk definition table.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said pre-defined interface screen element types include at least two button types and at least two window types.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein selected items of information from said information providers are in formats selected from the group of information formats including text, an image, a sequence of images forming a slide presentation, a sequence of images forming an animated presentation, a video clip and a sound clip.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said action is selected from the group of actions including updating the current screen, going to a new screen, playing a video file, playing an audio file, playing an animation file, playing a slide presentation file.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronic information delivery systems and more particularly to distributed electronic kiosk systems with multiple kiosk sites for presenting myriad amounts of information to users.

An electronic kiosk refers to a computer-based information delivery system generally accessible to some segment of the public for retrieving information or initiating transactions. An individual kiosk unit includes a display screen for presenting information to the user and some form of computer input device for the user such as a touch screen or keypad, although a full keyboard or mouse could also be provided. The type of kiosk system of interest here is an interactive system having multiple kiosk sites at which a user at an individual kiosk can select a topic or search for information about a topic from a large database of information.

Such kiosk systems have become popular in recent years. They are found, for example, at museums and exhibitions, airports, public transportation stations, banks, and even in retail establishments for the use of customers. Examples of kiosk systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,043 of Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,170 of Bouve et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,157 of Kaplan. Recently multimedia kiosks have appeared presenting information to the user not only as text on the display screen, but also in the form of graphics, audio clips, animated sequences of still images, and even video clips. The travel agency Thomas Cook, for example, has introduced a multimedia kiosk for arranging holiday travel, reported in Which Computer?, August 1994, pp.40-41.

The present invention addresses the development of an electronic kiosk system comprising a large number of individual kiosks located at a variety of different sites for providing a selection of information customized to each site. For purposes of illustration the present invention is discussed in the context of a kiosk system serving a geographical region popular for skiing. Kiosks may be located, for example, at individual ski areas, at hotels and resorts in the area, and at ski shops and other retail shops. The information available to a user at an individual kiosk will depend on the nature of the establishment in which the kiosk is located. A kiosk at a ski shop, for example, may provide information about the lines of rental equipment available at the shop and may also provide information about the local ski areas, ski conditions, and even local restaurants and events. Kiosks at different ski shops would have to be customized for each shop at the least because rental equipment will generally differ from shop to shop. A kiosk at a local hotel may also provide information about the local ski areas, ski conditions and events, and may provide information about the ski shops in the area that rent and sell ski equipment. The hotel kiosk would generally not provide information about other hotels in the area and may or may not provide information on restaurants outside the hotel. A ski area kiosk may provide information on lift tickets, ski conditions, specific ski runs, ski school and day care, as well as information on ski rental, shops, restaurants, local events and the like. In a region encompassing several ski areas and towns with numerous shops, restaurants, places to stay, and places of nightly entertainment, such a kiosk system could include hundreds of kiosks, each having its own user interface and presenting its own unique selection of information.

The custom design of each individual kiosk can be a formidable undertaking. There are a great variety of possibilities for laying out the user interfaces, especially for a multimedia kiosk. A ski shop kiosk, for example, may want to display an initial stylistic presentation of the ski shop's name, perhaps overlaid on a graphic image of a skier executing an exciting ski maneuver. For a line of specialized rental skis the kiosk may present a video clip, perhaps accompanied by an audio clip, showing the ski in its specialized use. For information on a restaurant the kiosk may display a graphic image depicting patrons in the restaurant to show the atmosphere and dress appropriate to the restaurant. The kiosk may also display the restaurant menu either as a computer text file or as a graphic image of a stylish menu used in the restaurant.

These examples demonstrate the great variety of user interfaces available and highlight the effort required to develop a customized interface for each kiosk. The problem is intensified because each kiosk interface will generally have to be changed from time to time either sporadically or at regular intervals. For example, a kiosk that displays a graphic image of patrons at a restaurant to show the atmosphere and appropriate dress may find it desirable to change the graphic image with the season since a scene showing winter dress would not be appropriate in the summer. A ski shop may not carry precisely the same lines of equipment from one season to the next, and its kiosk will have to be modified to show the current equipment. Sometimes more extensive modification will be needed. A shop that carries ski equipment in the winter may specialize in other activities in the summer, for example, tennis, golf, swimming, boating or hiking. The kiosk's user interface would have to be extensively revised with the changes in season to reflect the shop's new emphasis and goods, and the information content available to the kiosk would have to be updated to include the summertime goods and activities. A shop or hotel that displays information on ski areas in the winter may want to display information about tennis, golf and other outdoor activities in the summer. In any one geographical region changes of this sort may have to be made to hundreds of kiosks or more.

Some of the problems to be overcome to make a kiosk system of this sort commercially viable are the organization of the data for potentially hundreds of kiosks and even more data sources so that a customized selection of data will be accessible to users at each of the kiosks; the customization of the user interface for each of the potentially hundreds of kiosks or more in the system in a manner that is economically feasible; the ability to update the data available to the kiosks quickly and easily; and the ability to modify the user interface of any one kiosk quickly and easily.

The organization of data for kiosk systems and the form of the user interface are active areas of study, in which no consensus has yet been reached; See, for example, Y. Guang et al., "Driving the Citizen-Oriented Information on the Electronic Highway," Proceedings of the International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems, May 15-18, 1995, IEEE Computer Society Press, pp.131-138; G. Kearsley and R. S. Heller, "Multimedia in Public Access Settings: Evaluation Issues," Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, Vol 4, No. 1, pp.3-24; W. Holfelder and D. Hehmann, "A Networked Multimedia Retrieval Management System for Distributed Kiosk Applications," Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems, May 15-19, 1994, pp. 342-351; P. Steiger, "MINNELLI--Experiences with an Interactive Information Kiosk for Casual Users," Proceedings of the UBILAB Conference 1994 (Switzerland), Computer Science Research at UBILAB, pp. 124-133.

To assist in creating and modifying computer interface screens, a number of commercial authoring software products are available. With such software a programmer can design the layout of a display screen such as the size, character and placement of buttons and windows on the screen and combine text, graphics, audio and video into a user-friendly application screen interface. In general, authoring tools comprise prewritten computer code having a functionality for reading a data structure that defines a task to be taken and performs the task based on the data. Examples include Macromedia Director, Asymmetrix Multimedia ToolBook, and Oracle's Media Objects. High-end authoring systems have the capability to integrate different media and they include full application-building programmability similar to that found in database packages. Most authoring tools define a screen and the specific attributes of the screen such as the definition of a video window that will play a specified video clip or show a text file or a graphic image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a multimedia kiosk authoring system for use in developing and maintaining multimedia kiosk systems. The authoring system enables the user interface for each individual kiosk to be customized quickly and easily within wide limits of variation, yet subject to constraints adhering the resting interface to good standards of aesthetics and user friendliness. The system may be used to provide custom interfaces expeditiously even for hundreds of kiosks. The authoring system also provides for organization of information from numerous information sources, referred to herein generally as information providers. The system makes it easy to set up, maintain, and update a great variety of kiosks with large amounts of information potentially available to each kiosk. Each kiosk, however, is customized to present only the information that is appropriate to that kiosk. When a new information provider subscribes to the system, it may easily be incorporated into the system so that it is available for all kiosks. All individual kiosks may have available to them the entirety of the latest information. The present authoring system avoids the need to keep track of different versions in the field at potentially hundreds of kiosk sites.

The present authoring system is particularly advantageous in that it may be used by persons with little or no experience in the intricate details of computer programming thereby making it easier for a larger number of persons to set up kiosk interface screens. It is a further advantage of the present authoring system that an individual using the authoring software to devise a kiosk interface screen (that individual is referred to herein as a "system author") is only given a limited range of choices for stylistic and functional elements appearing in the screen displays. In this way major aesthetic or functional design choices such as button syles and sizes, window borders, color combinations, and type fonts as well as hierarchical methods of retrieving information may be built into the system taking into account the considered opinions of aesthetic design specialists, database specialists, and academic studies on public access kiosk systems and user preferences and problems. Only a limited range of pre-defined design choices is then made available to a system author. Nevertheless, the authoring software is structured to make it amenable to change for example to permit new elements to be added to the system or to take into account the results of new studies on user interactions with computer kiosks.

Other aspects, advantages, and novel features of the present authoring system are described below or will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following specifications and drawings of illustrative embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a distributed kiosk system for implementing the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are examples of kiosk screen display layouts.

FIG. 3 is an example of a screen layout joined table for implementing a kiosk authoring system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a Region/Resort database joined table.

FIG. 5 is an example of a Shop/Manufacturer database joined table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

For purposes of illustration an embodiment of the present invention is described in a distributed kiosk system serving a geographical region popular for skiing. FIG. 1 shows three representative kiosks 10 located in a ski shop (the "ABC Ski Shop"), a ski area (the "Big Mountain Ski Area"), and a hotel (the "ZZZ Hotel"), all located in a geographical region indicated generally at 11. FIG. 1 shows a representative geographical region situated in the ski country of Northern California. The system is not limited to small numbers of kiosks, but may include hundreds or thousands of kiosks serving a number of localized geographical regions. Indeed, many of the features of the invention are especially advantageous in such large and widely distributed systems. The system may also include remote and isolated kiosks such as kiosk 12 located in a travel bureau removed from ski country 11. The embodiment of FIG. 1 includes a master computer 13 at yet another location that may be used for software implementation of new subscriber kiosks on the system and maintenance of old kiosks.

Kiosks commonly take the form of dedicated stand-alone stations having a display screen that may be a touch screen and/or may be used with a keypad. In some settings, however, a self-contained stand-alone kiosk would be out of place and the function of the kiosk may be served equally well by a desktop computer with a touch pad or mouse or even a keyboard. For example, kiosk 12 of FIG. 1 in a remote travel bureau may take the form of a desktop computer in the travel bureau office. "Kiosk" is used herein in this broad sense to include stand-alone kiosks as well as general purpose computers configured to serve the same functions as a stand-alone kiosk. As configured in the present system each kiosk also includes its own data storage capability such as a high volume hard disk drive, although the system could operate from a central database server such as master computer 13 in FIG. 1 when suitable bandwidth for communications with the many kiosks is available. As will be described below, if the system is not implemented with a central database server, it is advantageous for each kiosk to store the entire database of information for all kiosks in the system even though each kiosk will not generally use the entire database.

Hardware implementations of a kiosk as a stand-alone unit with a touch screen or keypad are well known and need not be described in detail here. Of more significance to the present invention is the method by which the software for the kiosk units is configured.

Before the software is described in any detail, it is instructive to look at examples of kiosk screen layouts designed by the authoring system of the present invention. FIG. 2A shows a representative layout of a display screen 20 from the ABC Ski Area kiosk 10 that is rich in structural details. One column and one row of buttons 21 of a first type are disposed along two edges of the screen. Each button 21 has a textual portion 22 with text identifying a category of information and a graphics portion 23 showing a graphical image appropriate to the associated information category. The bulk of the screen is occupied by a main window 24 that has a variable display. When the kiosk is not in use, window 24 may display a primary scene from the ski area with overlaid text identifying the area and perhaps giving instructions for use. When a user activates a buttons 21, main window 24 displays information about the topic associated with the button. In FIG. 2A the user has activated the restaurant button in the upper left corner of the screen. Main window 24 displays a background graphical image of an attractive scene from the ski area overlaid with three columns of buttons 26 of a second type with textual labels 27 identifying restaurants and other eating establishments available at the ski area. Also overlaid on the background image in main window 24 are textual labels 28 identifying the general locations of the eating establishments. At the bottom of the screen are additional screen maneuvering buttons 29. For purposes of illustration in FIG. 2A the graphical images on buttons 21 and in main window 24 are shown only in diagrammatic format. The authoring software can insert a variety of image types at the selection of the system author such as photographs, artwork or even video clips.

A closer look at the structure of the screen layout of FIG. 2A is in order. The buttons 21 have a fixed predefined size, which is chosen not only to make them aesthetically pleasing in appearance, but also easy to use on a touch screen by persons generally unpracticed with touch screen operation. The button placement in FIG. 2A is generally fixed along two adjacent edges. This is an aesthetic choice, but it is a choice that is forced by the authoring software to assure that once an aesthetically and functionally acceptable button size and layout has been chosen, it will be maintained throughout all further screen layouts for all kiosks without having to expend time and effort re-creating an acceptable button layout anew for each kiosk. Other aesthetic button layouts may also be used, but once a general button layout is devised, the software makes it available for use in all kiosk interface screens. Considering that many many screen layouts will generally have to be set up and then regularly revised, limiting the system author's freedom to devise new button patterns and button styles greatly enhances the ease with which new kiosks may be brought in operation and ensures that the button pattern will be aesthetically and operationally acceptable.

The screen layout of FIG. 2A shows twelve buttons 21 of the first type. If a kiosk screen calls for fewer buttons, then the spacing between the buttons is automatically adjusted, but the button size and row and column placement are unaltered. If the screen calls for more buttons, then one button on the initial screen is a "MORE" button activating display of additional buttons, which will then include a "BACK" button for return to the previous display of buttons. This is an example of a control built into the authoring software to ensure that the buttons cannot be made too small so as to impair their readability or ease of use.

Notwithstanding the frequent advantages of the fixed geometric button placement as in FIG. 2A, an alternative free button placement is also provided as illustrated in the screen layout of FIG. 2B. This is particularly beneficial when only a few buttons 21 are to be displayed. FIG. 2B shows an alternative screen layout with a main window 24a and three buttons 21a of the first type positioned at coordinates and in orientations specified by the system author. The buttons 21a activate associated displays in main window 21a.

Having described the appearance and basic functionality of example kiosk interface screens, a more detailed description is now given of an implementation of the authoring system according to the invention. A given screen will include a variety of elements for presentation to a user such as one or more windows, one or more background images or artwork for providing a backdrop for a window or for background within a window, a number of buttons, a number of "hot spots," i.e., areas on the screen for activating actions, text strings, video clips, audio clips, slide sequences, or animation sequences. These elements are grouped into element types. For example, there may be several styles of buttons, each style constituting a button type, or there may be several styles of windows, each constituting a window type. Thus, the element types may include one or more button types, window types, text types, video types, and so on. Buttons and hot spots are sometimes referred to herein collectively as activation sites, and button types and hot spot types are sometimes grouped together herein as examples of activation types.

The authoring system uses the methods of object oriented programming. The system is specified by the following Object Class Definition Tables. The entries in these tables follow customary object oriented programming nomenclature and will be readily understood to those skilled in the art of object oriented programming. The particular implementation described here was developed for the Microsoft Windows.RTM. platform using the Microsoft Software Developers Kit (SDK) and that nomenclature is followed here. The classes used here are derived from or supplement classes provided by Microsoft SDK.

    ______________________________________
    CLASS DEFINITION TABLES
    ______________________________________
    Project Class:
    Attibute   Attribute
    Type       Name         Description
    ______________________________________
    long       IProjectID   Project ID
    CString    sProjectName Project Name
    long       IHomeScreenID
                            ID of the Home Screen for
                            the Project-not
                            known initially
    CString    sHomeName    Name of the Home Screen
    ______________________________________
    Screen Class:
    Type       Name         Description
    ______________________________________
    long       IScrnID      Screen ID
    CString    sScrnTitle   Screen Title
    CString    sScrnBkgnd   Screen Background - File
    Name
    long       IScrnColor   Screen Color
    long       IProjectID   Project ID
    long       IParent      Parents ID
    long[ ]    IChildren[ ] Array of Children ID's
    int        nTransition  Transition effect for screen
                            to screen
    CString    sVoiceOver   Voice Over file name
                            associated with
                            screen
    CString    sHelpFile    Help File name associated
                            with the screen
    ______________________________________
    Control Class:
    Type       Name         Description
    ______________________________________
    long       IScreenID    Screen ID; every control is
                            associated with a
                            screen
    long       ICtrIID      Control ID; every control
                            has a unique ID
    long       IForeColor   Foreground Color;
                            foreground color of
                            the control
    long       IBackColor   Background Color;
                            background color of
                            the control
    long       ILink        Link; ID of screen to which
                            control is linked
    WORD       wTransition  Transition; #define
                            describing screen
                            transition effect
    POINT      ptControlLt  Upper left hand corner of
                            control
    POINT      ptControlRt  Lower left hand corner of
                            control
    WORD       wHeight      Control Height
    WORD       wWidth       Control Width
    double     dRotate      Angle of control in radians
    BOOL       bAuthor      Author Mode (T) Authoring
                            (F) playback engine
    BOOL       bAction      Action; specifies if a
                            control has an action
                            (T) or a Link (F)
    long       IAction      Action ID; a #define
                            describing the Action
    ______________________________________
    Button Class:
    Type       Name         Description
    ______________________________________
    WORD       wButtonType  Type of button
    WORD       wFrameStyle  Frame Style
    long       IFrameColor  Color of the frame
    WORD       wFrameSize   Frame size in pixels
    CString    sTitle       Title of button
    WORD       wLocation    Location of title on button
    long       ITitleColor  Color of the Button Title
    CString    sFont        Font Name
    BOOL       bBold        Font Attrib - Bold
    BOOL       bItalic      Font Attrib - ItaIic
    WORD       wPtSize      Font point size
    long       IDropColor   Drop Shadow Color
    WORD       wDropSize    Drop shadow size
    CString    sFile        File Name for image (if one
                            used)
    CPoint     ptPictLeft   Upper left hand corner of
                            Image
    Cpoint     ptPictRight  Lower right hand corner of
                            image
    WORD       wWidth       Width of image
    WORD       wHeight      Height of image
    WORD       wState       Button State
    int        nYOffset     Image Y Offset
    int        imghandle    Handle to the image
    ______________________________________
    Text Window Class:
    Type       Name         Description
    ______________________________________
    HWND       hWndTextWin  Handle to a
                            CRichEditTextControl
    CRECT      cRectWin     Coordinates of the Window
    CString    sTxtFile     Name of the RTF to display
    long       lBkColor     Background Color of the
                            control
    LOGFONT    IfText       Provide a LOGFONT if text
                            is not tb displayed as
                            it is stored in the RTF
                            File.
    BOOL       bBorder      Display Window Border
    DWORD      dwStyle      Window Styles
    DWORD      dwBorder     Border Style
    BOOL       bTransparent Display the Text
                            Transparently with no
                            Frame, etc. on the
                            parent window
    Text Object Class:
    Cstring    sText        Text to display
    CPoint     ptText       Upper Lt Coordinate of
                            Starting Location to
                            Display Text
    double     dRadian      Angle if any to display Text
    DWORD      dwEffect     Effect to use to Display
                            Text
    LOGFONT    IfText       LOGFONT structure to be
                            used to display the
                            Text
    Audio Object Class:
    CString    sWavFile     Name of the WAV File to
                            play. A wav file is
                            assumed but other
                            audio file formats like
                            MPEG, AVI, are
                            supported. The file
                            type is based on the
                            file extension.
    WORD       wDelay       Delay as to when to start
                            the Audio
    BOOL       bRepeat      Set to true to replay the
                            Audio clip when
                            complete
    BOOL       bVolControl  Set to true to allow user to
                            alter Audio & even
                            mute Audio.
    Video Object Class:
    CString    sVideo       Name of the video file to
                            play. Again, the
                            Video type is
                            determined by the
                            files extension.
    CRect      cRectWin     Rectangle of where to
                            place the Video
                            Window.
    BOOL       bRepeat      Set True to Repeat the
                            Video when complete
    BOOL       bAudio       Set True to play Audio
    UINT       uiEffects    Effect to play between
                            Clips
    BOOL       bMultiple    Set to true if there are
                            multiple clips to play
                            specified in CString.
                            If there are multiple
                            clip then CString is a
                            fiIe with a list of ciip
                            names.
    BOOL       bBorder      Set to True if there is a
                            Border
    DWORD      dwBorderStyles
                            Style of Border to use on
                            the Video Window
    BOOL       bOpen        Set to True if we should
                            provide File Open
                            Capability.
    BOOL       bControl     Set to Ture if MCI control
                            functionality is
                            provided, such as a
                            slide bar, repeat,
                            stop.
    Animation Object Class:
    CString    sAnimation   Name of the animation file
                            to play. Again, the
                            Animation type is
                            determined by the
                            files extension.
    CPath      cPathAnim    Path of the Animation
    BOOL       bRepeat      Set True to Repeat the
                            Video when complete
    BOOL       bAudio       Set True to play Audio
    BOOL       bMultiple    Set to true if there are
                            multiple clips to play
                            specified in CString.
                            If there are multiple
                            clip then CString is a
                            file with a list of clip
                            names.
    DWORD      dwBorderStyles
                            Style of Border to use on
                            the Animation Window
    Image Object Class:
    CString    sImage       Name of the Image file to
                            display. Again, the
                            image type is
                            determined by the file
                            extension.
    BOOL       bBorder
    DWORD      dwStyle      Image Style Attributes, like
                            border size, border
                            color, Drop Shadow,
                            Transparency
    CPoint     ptUpperLt    Upper Left Corner of the
                            Image
    UINT       uiWidth      Width of the Image
    UINT       uiHeight     Height of the Image
    double     dAngle       Angle to display the Image
    CRECT[ ]   rectHot      Array of Rect Hotspots in
                            the Image
    Slide Object Class:
    CString    sFiles       A File containing the
                            images to display in
                            the slide window.
    BOOL       bDistort     Set to true if Images can
                            be distorted when
                            displayed
    BOOL       bBorder      Set to True if the Object
                            has a border
    DWORD      dwStyles     Sets the Objects Styles,
                            such as border size,
                            border color, Forward
                            and Backward
                            Buttons provided
    UINT       uiDelay      Delay between slides
    Cpoint     ptUpperLt    Upper Left Corner of the
                            Image
    UINT       uiWidth      Width of the Image
    UINT       uiHeight     Height of the Image
    double     dAngle       Angle to display the Image
    Nav Object Class:
    CString    sFile        Name of the Nav File
    CRect      cRectWin     Rectangle of location for
                            control
    BOOL       bBorder      Set to True to display a
                            border.
    DWORD      dwStyles     Styles for the Control, like
                            border size, border
                            color
    CRect[ ] [ ]
               cRectNav     Array of Hotspots for the
                            Nav, Store X and Y
                            for Hotspots. The
                            frames will be
                            determined on the fly.
    ______________________________________

                  TABLE I
    ______________________________________
    <Entering new screen - get screen ID passed in as a parameter>
    Based on Screen ID, look up the screen's object definition file
    if bMath
    perform lookup on screen ID to get Lookup Value <e.g.,
    X Company ski boots>
    Once the lookup key is obtained
    Read the system ID
    Perform a database lookup based on system ID and lookup
    key <e.g., ABC Ski Shop AND X Company ski boots>
    Traverse the system ID looking for lookup keys
    Count the matching items
    Once all objects to be placed on the screen have been obtained
    Calculate the object locations
    Get screen width
    Get screen height
    based on screen width determine x coordinate of first
            item
            Screen Width = 1024
            There are six objects
            1024/5 = 205
            Ideal sizing = 167
            Calculate proper spacing across screen using
              objectWidth = 167
    Once all object locations are defined
    perform lookup in the database using system ID and lookup
    key
    With match    get "Object Text"
                  get "Picture"
                  get "Video"
                  get "Action"
    Once the object characteristics are obtained
    Label and draw the object
    else
    Perform lookup on screen ID to get Lookup Value <e.g.,
    X Company ski boots>
    Once the lookup key is obtained
    Read the system ID
    Perform a database lookup based on system ID and lookup
    key <e.g., ABC Ski Shop AND X Company ski boots>
    Traverse the system ID looking for lookup keys
    Count the matching items
    Once all objects to be placed on the screen have been obtained
    Perform a lookup to get the predefined object locations
    <predefined object locations will depend on the
    number of items>
    Once all the object locations are defined
    Perform lookup in the database using system ID and lookup
    key
    With match    get "Object Text"
                  get "Picture"
                  get "Video"
                  get "Action"
    Once the object characteristics are obtained
    Label and draw the object
    ______________________________________

    ______________________________________
    The following are all member variables from the CMADbase Class.
    Public data members:
    BTIWORD  m.sub.-- datalen;
    BTI.sub.-- BYTE
             m.sub.-- keyBuf[255];
    BTI.sub.-- SINT
             m.sub.-- status
    Private data memebrs:
    BTI.sub.-- BYTE
             posBlock[128];
    BTI.sub.-- BYTE
             dataBuf[255];
    BTI.sub.-- WORD
               dataLen;
    BTI.sub.-- WORD
               keyNum = 0;
    BRI.sub.-- SINT
             status
    unsigned char m.sub.-- fileOpen = FALSE;
    These are structures defined for the Btrieve Records
    struct
    FILE.sub.-- SPECS
                  fileSpecs;
    KEY.sub.-- SPECS
                  keySpecs[2];
    } fileCreateBuf;
    Member Functions
    Functioin Name: Open
    Description: Provide a wrapper for Btrieve Open File function
    BOOL CMADBase::Open(CString sFileName)
    {
    strcpy((BTI.sub.-- CHAR*)m.sub.-- keyBuf, sFileName);
    m.sub.-- keyNum = 0;
    m.sub.-- datalen = sizeof(fileCreateBuf);
    m.sub.-- status = BTRV(B.sub.-- OPEN, m.sub.-- posBlock, m.sub.--
    dataBuf,
    &m.sub.-- datalen,
    m.sub.-- keyBuf, m)keyNum);
    if (m.sub.-- status == B.sub.-- NO.sub.-- ERROR)
    {
    m.sub.-- fileOpen = TRUE;
    return TRUE;
    }
    else
    {
    DisplayError(m.sub.-- status);
    return FALSE;
    }
    }
    Functin Name: Close
    Description: Provide a wapper for the Btrieve Close File function
    BOOL CMADbase::Close( )
    {
    if (m.sub.-- fileOpen)
    {
    m.sub.-- dataLen = 0;
    m.sub.-- status = BTRV(B.sub.-- CLOSE, m.sub.-- posBlock, m.sub.--
    dataBuf,
    &m.sub.-- dataLen, m.sub.-- keyBuf, m.sub.-- keyNum);
    if (m.sub.-- status == B.sub.-- NO.sub.-- ERROR)
    {
    return TRUE;
    }
    else
    {
    DisplayError(m.sub.-- status);
    return FALSE;
    }
    }
    return FALSE;
    }
    ______________________________________

• Inventors
  Burns, Kevin S.;
• Assignee
  Multimedia AdVentures (Issaquah, WA)
• Published
  Jan-11-2000
• Current US Classes:
  345/747
  345/788
  705/27
  715/517
• Application #
  810949
• International Classes
  G06F 015/21
• Field of Search
  345/333-335 345/342 705/26 705/27 707/508 707/511 707/517
• Examiner
  Mengistu; Amare
• Agent
  Aronson; Elliot B.
• US Patent References:
  4817043
  4974170
  5237157
  5764226
  5765142
  5826267