Scrolling tool for text and graphics in a display system

A tool for displaying data, said tool comprising:

• display means for displaying data from a buffer of a data processing system;
• means for superimposing, on the displayed data, a representation having a relative size and location as the displayed data has with respect to the whole of said buffer;
• means for interacting with the superimposed representation to scroll said buffer of data on said display means;
• and
• means for scrolling in a selected direction in a plurality of different preset amounts dependent upon a cursor position with respect to the superimposed representation.

A tool for displaying data, said tool comprising:

• display means for displaying data from a buffer of a data processing system;
• means for superimposing, on the displayed data, a representation having a relative size and location as the displayed data has with respect to the whole of said buffer;
• means for interacting with the superimposed representation to scroll said buffer of data on said display means;
• means for scrolling in a selected direction in a plurality of preset amounts dependent upon a cursor position with respect to the superimposed representation;
• and
• means for logically dividing the display means into a plurality of regions defined with respect to said representation, and for displaying the cursor which indicates, in each of said regions, the direction of scrolling.

A method for representing data, said method comprising the steps of:

• displaying data, from a buffer, on a display means;
• superimposing, on the displayed data, a representation representative of the size and location of said displayed data with respect to the whole of said buffer;
• interacting with the superimposed representation to scroll said buffer within said display means, comprising the substep of responding to an operation of a user-operable preset scroll selector to cause scrolling of the buffer of data by a preset amount in a selectable direction in response to the position of the cursor with respect to said scroll box on operation of said preset scroll selector;
• and
• successively scrolling said buffer of data by successively interacting without subsequent movement of said cursor.

A method for representing data, said method comprising the steps of:

• displaying data, from a buffer, on a display means;
• superimposing, on the displayed data, a representation representative of the size and location of said displayed data with respect to the whole of said buffer;
• interacting with the superimposed representation to scroll said buffer within said display means;
• and
• scrolling in a selected direction a plurality of different preset amounts dependent upon a cursor position with respect to the superimposed representation.

A method for representing data, comprising the steps of:

• displaying data, from a buffer, on a display means;
• superimposing, on the displayed data, a representation representative of the size and location of said displayed data with respect to the whole of said buffer;
• interacting with the superimposed representation to scroll said buffer within said display means;
• scrolling in a selected direction a plurality of preset amounts dependent upon a cursor position with respect to the superimposed representation;
• and
• logically dividing the display means into a plurality of regions defined with respect to said representation and for displaying the cursor which indicates, in each of said regions, the direction of scrolling.

A tool for displaying data, said tool comprising:

• a display system having a display means for displaying data from a buffer of a data processing system;
• a two dimensional representation;
• means for superimposing the two dimensional representation on said displayed data;
• means for positioning the representation within said displayed data to represent a relative position of the displayed data with respect to the buffer of data;
• means for repositioning the superimposed representation, comprising means for receiving a first event driven action within said representation for scrolling the data in a first amount, and means for receiving a second event driven action outside the representation for scrolling the data in a second amount;
• and
• means, responsive to said repositioning means, for displaying a different portion of data having a data position with respect to said buffer as a position of the repositioned representation has within said displayed data.

A method for representing data, said method comprising:

• displaying data from a buffer of a data processing system;
• representing an amount of the displayed data with respect to the buffer of data in a two dimensional representation;
• superimposing said two dimensional representation on said displayed data;
• sizing the representation with respect to the displayed data in relation to the displayed data size and the size of the buffer;
• positioning the superimposed representation to represent a relative position of the displayed data with respect to the buffer of data;
• repositioning the superimposed representation, comprising receiving a first event driven action within said representation for scrolling the data in a first amount, and receiving a second event driven action outside the representation for scrolling the data in a second amount;
• and
• displaying a different portion of data having a data position with respect to said buffer as a position of the repositioned representation has within said displayed data.