Metadata-driven list user interface component builder

• US 10,254,931 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2013
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP SE
• Inventors: Lim, Chee Hong, Chen, Zhigao, Hua, Biao, Kho, Suyono Zhe Ming
• Primary Examiner(s): Fibbi, Christopher J
• Application Number:
  US14/032,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20150089404A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,027 Days
• Field of Search: 715841, 715762, 715783
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

Disclosed herein are technologies for a metadata-driven building of list user interface (UI) components of a UI of an application. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A method that facilitates presentation of a list user interface (UI) component of a UI, the method comprising:

obtaining list-building metadata including at least one conditional statement;

parsing the obtained list-building metadata;

pulling content from a data source based upon metadata parsed from the obtained list-building metadata;

processing expressions including the conditional statement parsed from the obtained list-building meta data;

creating a list UI component of a UI based upon the pulled content and processed expressions;

presenting the created list UI component on a display of a computing system;

receiving user input from an application executing on the computing system; and

in response to the received user input, updating the presented list UI component of the UI on the display, wherein the updating comprises generating a new list UI component based on an information obtained from an input handler previously registered to handle an event corresponding to the received user input, the input handler being executed by an application providing the list-building metadata;

wherein source code of the application differs from code used to create the list UI component;

wherein the metadata comprises an expression to invoke a UI list builder to process column data and decide which format to feed into controls of the generated new list UI component.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the list-building metadata is obtained from the application executing on the computing system.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the list UI component is selected from a group consisting of a list view, a grid view, and a non-repetitive form view.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pulled content is selected from a group consisting of images, video, audio, and texts.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data source is local to the computing system.

6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising generating a layout of the list UI component based upon metadata parsed from the obtained list-building metadata.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the new list UI component comprises a drill-down list UI component.

8. A computer-program product that facilitates presentation of a list user interface (UI) component of a UI, the computer-program product comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing processor-executable instructions that when executed cause one or more processors to perform operations that facilitate presentation of a list user interface (UI) component of a UI, the operations comprising

obtaining list-building metadata;

parsing the obtained list-building metadata, wherein the parsed metadata comprises content information, at least one conditional statement, and UI layout information;

pulling content from a data source based upon the content information parsed from the obtained list-building metadata;

processing expressions including the conditional statement parsed from the obtained list-building metadata;

generating a layout of the list UI component based upon the UI layout information parsed from the obtained list-building metadata;

based upon results from the pulling, processing, and generating operations, creating a list UI component of a UI;

presenting the created list UI component on a display of a computing system;

receiving user input from an application executing on the computing system; and

in response to the received user input, updating the presented list UI component of the UI on the display, wherein the updating comprises generating a new list UI component based on an information obtained from an input handler previously registered to handle an event corresponding to the received user input, the input handler being executed by an application providing the list-building metadata;

wherein source code of the application differs from code used to create the list UI component;

wherein the metadata comprises an expression to invoke a UI list builder to process column data and decide which format to feed into controls of the generated new list UI component.

9. The computer-program product according to claim 8, wherein the list-building metadata is obtained from an application executing on the computing system.

10. The computer-program product according to claim 9, wherein the application is generated from a source code of a programming language differing from a programing language of a source code of the computer-program product.

11. The computer-program product according to claim 8, wherein processing the expressions comprises calculating and converting different types of data.

12. The computer-program product according to claim 8, wherein the updating comprises generating a drill-down list UI component.

13. The computer-program product according to claim 8, wherein the list UI component is selected from a group consisting of a list view, a grid view, and a non-repetitive form view.

14. The computer-program product according to claim 8, wherein the pulled content is selected from a group consisting of images, video, audio, and text.

15. The computer-program product according to claim 8, wherein the data source is remote from the computing system.

16. An apparatus that facilitates presentation of a list user interface (UI) component of a UI, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media in communication with the one or more processors and storing processor-executable instructions that are operative with the one or more processors to perform operations including

parsing list-building metadata, wherein the parsed metadata comprises content information, at least one conditional statement, and UI layout information;

pulling content from one or more data sources based upon the content information parsed from the list-building metadata;

processing expressions including the conditional statement parsed from the list-building metadata;

generating a layout of the list UI component based upon the UI layout information parsed from the list-building metadata,

creating a list UI component of a UI based upon results of the obtained data, the processed expressions, and the generated layout, and

presenting the created list UI component on a display of a computing system; and

an input device for receiving user input from an application executing on the computing system, and wherein in response to the received user input, the processor-executable instructions are further operative with the one or more processors to update the presented list UI component of the UI on the display, wherein the updating comprises generating a new list UI component based on an information obtained from an input handler previously registered to handle an event corresponding to the received user input, the input handler being executed by an application providing the list-building metadata;

wherein source code of the application differs from code used to create the list UI component;

wherein the metadata comprises an expression to invoke a UI list builder to process column data and decide which format to feed into controls of the generated new list UI component.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the processor-executable instructions are further operative with the one or more processors to obtain the list-building metadata from an application executing on the computing system.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the processor-executable instructions are further operative with the one or more processors to process the expressions by performing a calculation based on specific content pulled from the one or more data sources.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the list UI component is selected from a group consisting of a list view, a grid view, and a non-repetitive form view.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the pulled content is selected from a group consisting of images, video, audio, and texts.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the processor-executable instructions are further operative with the one or more processors to generate a drill-down list UI component.

22. A computer-implemented method comprising:

executing, on a computing device, an application containing a list user interface (UI) metadata dataset and an input handler,

wherein metadata of the list UI metadata dataset describes layout, content, and behavior of one or more list UI components of a UI,

wherein the input handler manages input for the application from a source external to the application and responds to same;

executing, on the computing device, a list UI builder that is external and separate to the application, wherein the list UI builder is implemented as part of a reusable library and comprises a metadata parser, a data source engine, an expression engine, and a renderer, wherein the list UI metadata dataset is loaded into the metadata parser resulting in the metadata parser parsing the metadata of the list UI metadata dataset and sending the parsed metadata to other components of the list UI builder including (i) layout information to the renderer, (ii) information about acquiring content to the data source engine, and (iii) expressions to the expression engine for the expression engine to determine an appropriate conditional behavior for the list UI builder to perform,

receiving user-generated input indicating that a user is interacting with list views rendered in a graphical user interface by the renderer of the list UI builder that trigger events that the list views expose, wherein the input handler is registered with the renderer of the list UI builder to handle events associated with the list views; and

updating a current view in the graphical user interface based upon input from the input handler.