System and method for managing off-screen buffers for electronic images
View Patent ↗An off-screen buffer manager controls when the off-screen buffer is destroyed and re-created improving system performance. A screen request is received for a Java screen component and a determination is made whether there is already an off-screen buffer. If there is not an off-screen buffer, a new off-screen buffer is created and the component requesting the screen request is associated with the off-screen buffer. If an off-screen buffer already exists, a determination is made as to whether the off-screen buffer is large enough to handle the incoming request. If the off-screen buffer is large enough to handle the request, the existing off-screen buffer is used to handle the request, otherwise, the existing off-screen buffer is deleted and a new off-screen buffer is created and the component identifier of the deleted off-screen buffer is associated with the new off-screen buffer.
1. A method for managing a Java off-screen buffer on a computer system, said method comprising:
receiving a Java display request from an application, the request including a component identifier;
comparing the request to a current off-screen buffer environment;
creating a new off-screen buffer environment in response to the comparison; and
associating the component identifier with the new off-screen buffer.
2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the comparing further comprises:
determining whether a current off-screen buffer exists in the current off-screen buffer environment; and
determining whether the current off-screen buffer is large enough to store a graphic image corresponding to the request.
3. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a component destroy request following the associating, the component destroy request including a second identifier corresponding with a component image currently included in the new off-screen buffer;
comparing the second identifier with the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer;
deleting the new off-screen buffer in response to the second identifier being the same as the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer.
4. The method as described in claim 3 further comprising:
removing the component image from the new off-screen buffer in response to the second identifier not being the same as the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer.
5. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the Java display request is selected from the group consisting of a create request, a resize request, and paint request.
6. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a second Java display request following the associating;
comparing the request to the new off-screen buffer environment corresponding to the new off-screen buffer;
determining that the new off-screen buffer exists and that the new off-screen buffer is large enough to store an image corresponding to the second Java display request; and
including the image in the new off-screen buffer.
7. The method as described in claim 6 wherein the second Java display request includes a Java heavyweight component request.
8. An information handling system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory accessible by the processors;
a nonvolatile storage device managed by a file system, the nonvolatile storage device including one or more directories that include one or more files;
an buffer management tool for managing a Java off-screen buffer, the buffer management tool including:
means for receiving a Java display request from an application, the request including a component identifier;
means for comparing the request to a current off-screen buffer environment;
means for creating a new off-screen buffer environment in response to the comparison; and
means for associating the component identifier with the new off-screen buffer.
9. The information handling system as described in claim 8 wherein the means for comparing further comprises:
means for determining whether a current off-screen buffer exists in the current off-screen buffer environment; and
means for determining, whether the current off-screen buffer is large enough to store a graphic image corresponding to the request.
10. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:
means for receiving a component destroy request following the associating, the component destroy request including a second identifier corresponding with a component image currently included in the new off-screen buffer;
means for comparing the second identifier with the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer;
means for deleting the new off-screen buffer in response to the second identifier being the same as the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer.
11. The information handling system as described in claim 10 further comprising:
means for removing the component image from the new off-screen buffer in response to the second identifier not being the same as the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer.
12. The information handling system as described in claim 8 wherein the Java display request is selected from the group consisting of a create request, a resize request, arid paint request.
13. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:
means for receiving a second Java display request following the means for associating;
means for comparing the request to the new off-screen buffer environment corresponding to the new off-screen buffer;
means for determining that the new off-screen buffer exists and that the new off-screen buffer is large enough to store a graphical image corresponding to the second Java display request; and
means for including the graphical image in the new off-screen buffer.
14. A computer program product stored in a computer operable media for managing a Java off-screen buffer, said computer program product comprising:
means for receiving a Java display request from an application, the request including a component identifier;
means for comparing the request to a current off-screen buffer environment;
means for creating a new off-screen buffer environment in response to the comparison; and
means for associating the component identifier with the new off-screen buffer.
15. The computer program product as described in claim 14 wherein the means for comparing further comprises:
means for determining whether a current off-screen buffer exists in the current off-screen buffer environment; and
means for determining whether the current off-screen buffer is large enough to store a graphic image corresponding to the request.
16. The computer program product as described in claim 14 further comprising:
means for receiving a component destroy request following the associating, the component destroy request including a second identifier corresponding with a component image currently included in the new off-screen buffer;
means for comparing the second identifier with the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer;
means for deleting the new off-screen buffer in response to the second identifier being the same as the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer.
17. The computer program product as described in claim 16 further comprising:
means for removing the component image from the new off-screen buffer in response to the second identifier not being the same as the identifier associated with the new off-screen buffer.
18. The computer program product as described in claim 14 wherein the Java display request is selected from the group consisting of a create request, a resize request, and paint request.
19. The computer program product as described in claim 14 further comprising:
means for receiving a second Java display request following the means for associating;
means for comparing the request to the new off-screen buffer environment corresponding to the new off-screen buffer;
means for determining that the new off-screen buffer exists and that the new off-screen buffer is large enough to store a graphical image corresponding to the second Java display request; and
means for including the graphical image in the new off-screen buffer.
20. The computer program product as described in claim 19 wherein the second Java display request includes a Java heavyweight component request.