Importance

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Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for event handling which addresses the problems associated with the prior art, including those problems discussed above, by delegating, for example to the system software, the task of determining whether particular combinations of events and other conditions have occurred. The present invention provides applications with a mechanism for establishing a template, called an event qualifier network, which monitors the occurrence of an event or specific combination of events, along with virtually any other qualifying condition specified by the application. In response to the occurrence of such events and conditions, the event qualifier network notifies the application that its 'desired event' has occurred, whereupon the application may then take the appropriate action. Event qualifier networks can be quickly and simply built to monitor for arbitrarily complex combinations of events. Furthermore, an event qualifier network may monitor for events in combination with other conditions, such as a particular state of the system or application program (e.g., a mouse-down event and the cursor being in a particular location of the screen), and notify the application when the desired events occur while the specified conditions are met. In addition, event qualifier networks may be combined into a single event qualifier network, providing reusability, improved performance and an event qualifier hierarchy.

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First Claim