Management of inactive windows

• US 10,209,851 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2015
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Chen, Jennifer Shien-Ming, Kuscher, Alexander Friedrich
• Primary Examiner(s): Titcomb, William D
• Application Number:
  US14/859,216
• Publication Number:
  US 20170083166A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,250 Days
• Field of Search: 715806
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1438 Restarting or rejuvenating
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/461 Saving or restoring of program or task context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/485 Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution G06F9/4881 takes precedence

Abstract

In a computer system, one or more windows displayed on a virtual desktop of a computing device are determined to be inactive. The one or more windows may correspond to one or more processes running on the computing device. In response to determining that the one or more windows are inactive, state information for the one or more corresponding processes is saved and the one or more windows and corresponding processes are terminated. The state information comprises information for restarting the one or more processes and regenerating the one or more windows in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to the termination of the windows and processes. A user interface is provided for restoring the terminated windows based on the stored state information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining, by a processor, that one or more windows displayed on a virtual desktop of a computing device are inactive, the one or more windows corresponding to one or more respective processes running on the computing device; and

in response to determining that the one or more windows are inactive, storing, by the processor, state information for the one or more processes, and terminating the one or more windows and the one or more respective processes,

wherein the state information comprises information for restarting the one or more respective processes and regenerating the one or more windows in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to the terminating, wherein the state information comprises coordinate locations of the one or more windows, and wherein the terminating comprises removing the one or more windows from the virtual desktop, stopping the one or more respective processes, removing the one or more respective processes from a memory of the computing device, and marking objects generated by the one or more respective processes for at least one of termination or garbage collection.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, in a process management interface on the virtual desktop, a first enumeration of process representations corresponding to terminated processes together with a second enumeration of process representations corresponding to active processes, the process representations comprising representations of the one or more respective processes.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, an indication of a user gesture to move the representations of the one or more respective processes from the first enumeration to the second enumeration; and

in response to the indication, launching, by the processor, the one or more respective processes using the stored state information, the launched one or more respective processes regenerating the one or more windows on the virtual desktop in the state that existed at the point in time corresponding to the terminating.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the gesture comprises a finger swipe over a portion of a display screen of the computing device associated with the first and second enumerations, the finger swipe dragging the representations of the one or more respective processes.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining, by the processor, that an active window displayed on the virtual desktop is in a state of completion, and

in response to determining that the active window is in the state of completion, storing, by the processor, state information for the active window, and removing the active window from the virtual desktop,

wherein the first enumeration includes a process representation corresponding to a process associated with the active window, and

wherein the state information for the active window comprises information for regenerating the active window in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to when the active window is removed from the virtual desktop.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the one or more windows are associated with an electronic document when the one or more windows are determined to be inactive, and

wherein storing, by the processor, the state information comprises storing content of the electronic document, and

wherein launching, by the processor, the one or more respective processes using the stored state information and regenerating the one or more windows comprises regenerating the electronic document based on the stored content of the electronic stored when the one or more windows are determined to be inactive.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the representations of the one or more respective processes comprises one or more respective screenshots of the one or more windows at the point in time corresponding to the terminating, and wherein storing, by the processor, the state information for the one or more processes comprises capturing the one or more respective screenshots.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first enumeration is ordered according to when each process associated with the displayed process representations was terminated.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more windows are determined to be inactive based on a threshold amount of resources utilized by the one or more windows being decreased for over a predetermined period of time.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more windows are determined to be inactive based on a predetermined criteria comprising one or more of a z-order depth of the one or more windows, at least a threshold amount of the one or more windows being hidden, a predetermined type of process that generates the one or more windows, a predetermined type of user interface provided by the one or more windows, an audio or video data stream provided by the one or more windows coming to an end, a lack of pixels in the one or more windows, a resource utilization of the one or more windows satisfying a predetermined threshold utilization of resources, and a predetermined type of user activity being performed in the one or more windows.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the one or more windows are further determined to be inactive based the one or more windows not receiving user interaction for a predetermined period of time, wherein the predetermined period of time is modified by the predetermined criteria.

12. A machine readable medium including instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:

determine, by a processor, that one or more windows displayed on a virtual desktop of a computing device are inactive, the one or more windows corresponding to one or more respective processes running on the computing device; and

in response to determining that the one or more windows are inactive, store, by the processor, state information for the one or more processes and terminating the one or more windows and the one or more respective processes,

wherein the state information comprises information for restarting the one or more respective processes and regenerating the one or more windows in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to the terminating, wherein the state information comprises coordinate locations of the one or more windows, and wherein the terminating comprises removing the one or more windows from the virtual desktop, stopping the one or more respective processes, removing the one or more respective processes from a memory of the computing device, and marking objects generated by the one or more respective processes for at least one of termination or garbage collection.

13. The machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to:

display, in a process management interface on the virtual desktop, a first enumeration of process representations corresponding to terminated processes together with a second enumeration of process representations corresponding to active processes;

receive, by the processor, an indication of a user gesture to move a selected process representation from the first enumeration to the second enumeration, the selected process representation being associated with a terminated process; and

in response to the indication, launch, by the processor, a new process using stored state information associated with the selected process representation, the new process generating a window on the virtual desktop in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to when the terminated process was terminated.

14. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to:

determine by the processor, without user interaction, that an active window displayed on the virtual desktop should be removed from the virtual desktop;

store, by the processor, state information for the active window; and

remove, by the processor, the active window from the virtual desktop;

wherein the first enumeration includes a process representation corresponding to a process associated with the active window, and

wherein the state information for the active window comprises information for regenerating the active window in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to when the active window is removed from the virtual desktop.

15. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein one or more windows are associated with an electronic document when the one or more windows are determined to be inactive, and

wherein storing, by the processor, the state information comprises storing content of the electronic document, and

wherein launching, by the processor, the new process using the stored state information and generating the window comprises generating the electronic document based on the stored content of the electronic document.

16. The machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein the one or more windows are determined to be inactive based on a predetermined criteria comprising one or more of a z-order depth of the one or more windows, at least a threshold amount of the one or more windows being hidden, a predetermined type of process that generates the one or more windows, a predetermined type of user interface provided by the one or more windows, an audio or video data stream provided by the one or more windows coming to an end, a lack of pixels in the one or more windows, a resource utilization of the one or more windows satisfying a predetermined threshold utilization of resources, and a predetermined type of user activity being performed in the one or more windows.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more windows are further determined to be inactive based the one or more windows not receiving user interaction for a predetermined period of time, wherein the predetermined period of time is modified by the predetermined criteria.

18. A system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory, the memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform a method comprising;

determining, by the one or more processors, that one or more windows displayed on a virtual desktop are inactive, the one or more windows corresponding to one or more respective processes; and

in response to determining that the one or more windows are inactive, storing, by the one or more processors, state information for the one or more processes and terminating the one or more windows and the one or more respective processes,

wherein the state information comprises information for restarting the one or more respective processes and regenerating the one or more windows in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to the terminating, wherein the state information comprises coordinate locations of the one or more windows, and wherein the terminating comprises removing the one or more windows from the virtual desktop, stopping the one or more respective processes, removing the one or more respective processes from a memory of the computing device, and marking objects generated by the one or more respective processes for at least one of termination or garbage collection.

19. The system of claim 18, the method further comprising:

displaying, in a process management interface on the virtual desktop, a first enumeration of process representations corresponding to terminated processes together with a second enumeration of process representations corresponding to active processes;

receiving, by the one or more processors, an indication of a user gesture to move a selected process representation from the first enumeration to the second enumeration, the selected process representation being associated with a terminated process; and

in response to the indication, launching, by the one or more processors, a new process using stored state information associated with the selected process representation, the new process generating a window on the virtual desktop in a state that existed at a point in time corresponding to when the terminated process was terminated.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more windows are determined to be inactive based on a predetermined criteria comprising one or more of a z-order depth of the one or more windows, at least a threshold amount of the one or more windows being hidden, a predetermined type of process that generates the one or more windows, a predetermined type of user interface provided by the one or more windows, an audio or video data stream provided by the one or more windows coming to an end, a lack of pixels in the one or more windows, a resource utilization of the one or more windows satisfying a predetermined threshold utilization of resources, and a predetermined type of user activity being performed in the one or more windows, and

wherein the one or more windows are further determined to be inactive based the one or more windows not receiving user interaction for a predetermined period of time, wherein the predetermined period of time is modified by the predetermined criteria.