Immersive document interaction with device-aware scaling

• US 10,698,591 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2014
• Issued: 06/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Masterson, Joseph, de Souza, Jeremy, Ma, Jin, Catrinescu, Elena, Waddoups, Nathan, Fern, Kenneth, Meyers, Jr., David Lloyd, Limont, David Paul, Palmer, Michael B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sun, Li P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wan, Qi
• Application Number:
  US14/461,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20150277722A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,146 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561

Abstract

An adaptive layout and workflow engine. The adaptive layout and workflow engine allows various applications to dynamically render scaled views of content based on the characteristics of the display on the device being used to consume the content. The adaptive layout and workflow engine may select an appropriate view of the content to render based on the size, resolution, or aspect ratio of the display. The rendered size of the content and/or the user interface of the content application is evaluated relative to the characteristics of the display. Embodiments may provide different controls via the user interfaces based on the characteristics of the display and/or content. The adaptive layout and workflow engine may provide customized work flows via the user interface to improve the user experience depending on the display capabilities of the device used to consume the content.

Claims

1. A method for immersive document interaction with device-aware scaling, the method comprising the acts of:

providing, to a client device, an initial content item containing an attachment;

receiving, from the client device, a request to interact with the attachment;

when the request is received, determining a display configuration associated with a display of the client device;

selecting a layout based on the display configuration, the layout comprising at least;

a first control that, when actuated, performs a first action;

a second control that, when actuated, performs a second action; and

a region to present the attachment;

generating, based on the first control and the second control, a single customized task control to interact with the attachment that, with a single actuation, performs a sequence of multiple actions applicable to at least one of the attachment and the initial content item, the sequence of multiple actions comprising performing at least the first action and the second action;

adapting the layout to further comprise the generated single customized task control; and

providing the layout to the client device for display in response to the received request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the display configuration comprises at least one of a resolution, a dots per inch, a pixels per inch, an orientation, an aspect ratio, or a physical size for the display of the client.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of selecting the layout further comprises the act of selecting a full screen view for the layout to use for presenting the attachment when the attachment is a document with a width that is large relative to the width of the display.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of selecting the layout further comprises the act of selecting a full screen view for the layout to use for presenting the attachment when the display is width constrained.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of selecting the layout further comprises the act of selecting a side-by-side view for the layout to use for presenting the attachment when the attachment is a document with a size that is small relative to the width of the display.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of selecting the layout further comprises the act of selecting a side-by-side screen layout for the layout to use for presenting the attachment when the display is not width constrained.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the act of providing, to the client device, a layout control allowing selection of an alternate layout to override the selected layout.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of multiple actions of the single customized task control is further based on a predicted task for the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the layout to comprise the generated single customized task control comprises omitting the first control and the second control from the layout.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of multiple actions of the single customized task control is further based on at least one of a type of the attachment and a previous action taken with the attachment.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the initial content item is an email message and the attachment is opened for editing, and wherein the first action comprises saving the attachment as a revised attachment and the second action comprises attaching the revised attachment to a new email message.

12. A system for immersive document interaction with device-aware scaling, the system comprising:

a computing device operable to run a first application to interact with an initial content item and a second application to interact with an attachment, wherein the initial content item contains the attachment;

an adaptive layout and workflow engine operable to;

i) collect a display configuration associated with a client device;

ii) generate a display of the initial content item;

iii) receive a request to display the attachment of the initial content item;

iv) when the request is received, determine a view based on the display configuration, wherein the view is one of a full-screen view or a side-by-side view;

v) generate a display of the attachment using the determined view;

vi) generate, in the determined view, a display of a single context-sensitive task control that, with a single actuation, performs a sequence of multiple actions applicable to at least one of the attachment and the initial content item in response to the single actuation, the sequence of multiple actions comprising at least;

a first action associated with a first control; and

a second action associated with a second control; and

vii) perform at least the sequence of multiple actions when the single context-sensitive task control is actuated.

13. The system of claim 12, further operable to render a layout control allowing selection of an alternate view to override the determined view.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the first application is an email application, the second application is an attachment editing application, and the determined view is a full screen view, and wherein the first action and the second action are each selected from a group of actions comprising:

generating a new email message;

saving the attachment as a revised attachment;

attaching the revised attachment to the new email message; and

opening the new email message for editing.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the first application is an email application, the initial content item is an email, the second application is a viewer for a read-only attachment, and the determined view is a full screen view, and wherein the first action comprises closing the attachment and the second action comprises generating a new email based on the initial content item.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the adaptive layout and workflow engine is further operable to determine the full screen view as the view when the display configuration corresponds to a low aspect ratio.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the adaptive layout and workflow engine is further operable to determine the side-by-side view as the view when the display configuration corresponds to a large aspect ratio.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the attachment is opened for viewing, and wherein the adaptive layout and workflow engine is operable to display a second single context-sensitive task control for redistributing the attachment.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the initial content item is an email, and wherein the adaptive layout and workflow engine is further operable to render a new email based on the initial content item and the attachment in a side-by-side view.

20. A computer storage hardware device storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform a method of immersive document interaction with device-aware scaling, the method comprising:

providing, to a client device, an initial content item containing an attachment;

receiving, from the client device, a request to interact with the attachment;

when the request is received, determining a display configuration of the client device presenting the initial content item via a display;

selecting a layout based on the display configuration, the layout comprising at least;

a first control that, when actuated, performs a first action;

a second control that, when actuated, performs a second action; and

a region to present the attachment;

generating, based on the first control and the second control, a single customized task control to interact with the attachment that, with a single actuation, automatically performs a sequence of multiple actions based at least in part on the display configuration, and wherein the sequence of multiple actions comprises at least the first action and the second action;

adapting the selected layout to further comprise the generated single customized task control; and

providing the layout to the client device for display in response to the received request.