Methods and systems for creating skins

• US 20020101444A1
• Filed: 01/31/2001
• Published: 08/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Novak, Michael J., Olson, Kipley J., Larkin, Kevin P., Nadalin, David M., Sanborn, Frank G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,073,130 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/744
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

Methods and systems for creating and rendering skins are described. In one described embodiment skins can be defined as sets of script files, art files, media files, and text files. These files can be used to create new and different skin appearances, layouts and functionalities. The files are organized for use using a hierarchical tag-based data structure, an example of which is an XML data structure. The data structure is processed to provide an object model. The object model can be a scriptable object model that enables script to execute to provide an interactive, dynamic skin that can respond to internal and external events. In one embodiment, a computer architecture used for rendering the skin includes a layout manager that processes an intermediate representation of the XML data structure to provide the scriptable object model. Various components of the scriptable object model can include a script engine for receiving and executing script, and one or more rendering elements. Each rendering element represents a different skin element and can be individually configured to respond to script via the script engine. The inventive systems and techniques can provide a robust, dynamic skin that can be rendered and re-rendered at runtime.

Claims

1. A skin comprising:

one or more computer-readable media;

at least one skin definition file resident on the one or more computer readable media, the skin definition file defining a skin and being defined in a hierarchical tag-based language.

2. The skin of claim 1 further comprising one or more art files resident on the computer-readable media, the art files containing images associated with the skin.

3. The skin of claim 2, wherein at least one art file defines a primary image that can be viewed by a user when the skin is installed.

4. The skin of claim 3, wherein at least one art file defines a secondary image that is viewable in response to a user action.

5. The skin of claim 2, wherein at least one art file defines a mapping image to specify skin regions that respond to user input.

6. The skin of claim 1 further comprising one or more script files resident on the computer-readable media, the script files defining responses to various events to give the skin a degree of interactivity.

7. The skin of claim 6, wherein at least one event comprises an internal event that is associated with an application with which the skin is associated.

8. The skin of claim 6, wherein at least one event comprises an external event that is associated with a user of an application with which the skin is associated.

9. The skin of claim 1, wherein the skin definition file comprises an XML file.

10. A skin comprising:

one or more computer-readable media;

at least one skin definition file resident on the one or more computer-readable media, the skin definition file defining a skin and being defined in a hierarchical tag-based language;

one or more art files resident on the computer-readable media, the art files containing images associated with the skin, at least one art file defining;

a primary image that can be viewed by a user when the skin is installed,

a secondary image that is viewable in response to a user action, and

a mapping image to specify skin regions that respond to user input; and

one or more script files resident on the computer-readable media, the script files defining responses to various events to give the skin a degree of interactivity.

11. An XML data structure comprising multiple tag pairs, individual tag pairs being associated with and referencing information that can be utilized to render a skin.

12. The XML data structure of claim 11, wherein one or more of the tag pairs are associated with individual skin elements and reference information that defines how a skin looks and how the skin elements are laid out.

13. The XML data structure of claim 11, wherein one or more of the tag pairs are associated with individual skin elements and reference information that defines how a skin looks, how the skin elements are laid out, and how at least one portion of the skin functions.

14. The XML data structure of claim 11, wherein the tag pairs collectively reference information associated with a background image and images associated with individual skin elements.

15. The XML data structure of claim 11, wherein at least one tag pair contains information that establishes a color mapping relationship between one or more skin elements and associated colors in an image map.

16. The XML data structure of claim 11, wherein at least one tag pair contains information associated with at least one subview that defines a subsection within a skin that can be moved or hidden.

18. The skin of claim 17, wherein said at least one other tag pair contains one or more tag pairs that are associated with specific skin elements.

19. The skin of claim 18, wherein said specific skin elements comprise skin controls.

20. The skin of claim 17, wherein said at least one other tag pair contains information that establishes a color mapping relationship between one or more skin elements and associated colors in an image map.

21. The skin of claim 17, wherein said at least one other tag pair contains information associated with at least one subview, the subview defining a subsection within a skin that can be moved or hidden.

17. A skin comprising:

one or more computer-readable media; and

at least one skin definition file resident on the one or more computer-readable media, the skin definition filing comprising an XML file that contains information associated with the skin, the XML file comprising a root tag pair, and at least one other tag pair that is a child to the root tag pair and that is associated with a particular viewable image that comprises the skin.

22. A skin-organizing method comprising:

providing one or more file types that define different aspects of a skin; and

organizing the files types using a hierarchical tag-based structure.

23. The skin-organizing method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the file types is associated with an image that defines aspects of a skin'"'"'s appearance.

24. The skin-organizing method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the file types is associated with script that provides a skin'"'"'s interactivity.

25. The skin-organizing method of claim 22, wherein the file types permit the skin'"'"'s layout and look to be modified.

26. The skin-organizing method of claim 22, wherein the file types permit the skin'"'"'s functionality and look to be modified.

27. The skin-organizing method of claim 22, wherein the file types permit the skin'"'"'s layout and functionality to be modified.

28. The skin-organizing method of claim 22, wherein the file types permit the skin'"'"'s layout, look, and functionality to be modified.

29. The skin-organizing method of claim 22, wherein said organizing comprises doing so using an XML data structure.

30. A method of providing a skin comprising:

defining a primary image containing one or more user-viewable elements associated with the skin;

defining a mapping image having one or more colors, each color defining a region of the mapping image; and

associating individual color regions of the mapping image with individual user-viewable elements of the skin, wherein when the skin is rendered, each color region defines an area of the skin that is dedicated to its associated user-viewable element.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein said associating comprises doing so using an XML data structure.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein using an XML data structure comprises:

defining a first XML tag pair that references the mapping image; and

defining one or more second XML tag pairs that are children of the first XML tag pair, each second tag pair being associated with a user-viewable element and containing at least one attribute that is assigned a color in the mapping image.

33. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a primary image containing one or more user-viewable elements associated with a skin;

receive a mapping image having one or more colors, each color defining a region of the mapping image; and

establish a relationship between individual colors in the mapping image and individual user-viewable elements, wherein when the skin is rendered, each color region defines an area of the skin that is dedicated to its associated user-viewable element.

35. The skin-rendering computer architecture of claim 34, wherein the layout manager comprises an object model builder configured to process the hierarchical data structure and, responsive thereto, create the one or more rendering elements.

36. The skin-rendering computer architecture of claim 34 further comprising a script engine operably associated with the layout manager and configured to receive and execute script associated with one or more of the rendering elements, the script defining a degree of interactivity for the skin.

37. The skin-rendering computer architecture of claim 34, wherein:

the layout manager comprises an object model builder configured to process the hierarchical data structure and, responsive thereto, create the one or more rendering elements; and

further comprising a script engine operably associated with the layout manager and configured to receive and execute script associated with one or more of the rendering elements, the script defining a degree of interactivity for the skin.

38. The skin-rendering computer architecture of claim 34, wherein the layout manager is configured to:

process a hierarchical data structure that is derived from an XML file that describes the skin and its attributes; and

create the one or more rendering elements based on information contained in the hierarchical data structure.

39. The skin-rendering computer architecture of claim 34, wherein the layout manager is configured to process the hierarchical data structure and provide a scriptable object model therefrom.

40. A computing device embodying the computer architecture of claim 34.

34. A skin-rendering computer architecture comprising:

a layout manager configured to process a hierarchical data structure associated with a skin, the hierarchical data structure containing information that can be used by the layout manager to render the skin; and

one or more rendering elements associated with the layout manager, each rendering element being associated with a skin element and being configured for use in rendering their associated skin element.

41. A skin-rendering computer architecture comprising:

a layout manager configured to process a hierarchical data structure associated with a skin, the hierarchical data structure containing information that can be used by the layout manager to render the skin;

one or more rendering elements associated with the layout manager, each rendering element being associated with a skin element and being configured for use in rendering their associated skin element; and

a script engine operably associated with the layout manager and configured to receive and execute script associated with one or more of the rendering elements, the script defining a degree of interactivity for the skin.

42. The skin-rendering computer architecture of claim 41, further comprising an XML parser for parsing an XML file to provide the hierarchical data structure.

43. The skin-rendering computer architecture of claim 41, wherein the layout manager comprises an object model builder configured to process the hierarchical data structure and, responsive thereto, create the one or more rendering elements.

44. A computer device embodying the computer architecture of claim 41.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the skin definition file comprises an XML file.

47. The method of claim 45 further comprising processing the hierarchical data structure to provide one or more rendering elements, each rendering element being associated with a skin element and being configured for use in rendering their associated skin element.

48. The method of claim 47 further comprising processing the hierarchical data structure to provide a script engine configured to execute script associated with the skin.

49. The method of claim 48 further comprising processing the hierarchical data structure to provide one or more events to the script engine, the script engine being programmable to take a definable action in connection with the occurrence of the one or more events, the definable action providing a degree of interactivity for the skin.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising processing the hierarchical data structure to provide one or more script files to the script engine, the script files defining the action that provides the degree of interactivity for the skin.

51. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method of claim 45.

45. A method of providing a skin model for use in rendering a skin, the method comprising:

receiving a skin definition file that contains information associated with a skin, and one or more other files that are associated with the skin;

providing at least some of the one or more other files directly into computer memory, without the files entering a computer file system; and

processing the skin definition file to provide a hierarchical data structure that describes the skin.

52. A method of providing a skin model for use in rendering a skin, the method comprising:

receiving a skin definition file that contains information associated with a skin, and one or more other files that are associated with the skin, the skin definition file comprising an XML file;

processing the skin definition file to provide a hierarchical data structure that describes the skin; and

processing the hierarchical data structure to provide an object model for rendering the skin.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the object model comprises one or more rendering elements, each rendering element being associated with a skin element and being configured for use in rendering their associated skin element.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the object model comprises a script engine configured to receive and execute script files associated with one or more of the rendering elements, the script files defining a degree of interactivity for the skin.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the processing of the hierarchical data structure comprises providing one or more events to the script engine, the script engine being programmable to take a definable action in connection with the occurrence of the one or more events.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the processing of the hierarchical data structure comprises providing one or more script files to the script engine.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein said event comprises an external event.

60. The method of claim 58, wherein said event comprises an internal event.

61. The method of claim 58, wherein said ascertaining takes place at runtime.

62. The method of claim 58, wherein said ascertaining is performed by a script engine that is programmed with one or more events and script files that are related to the events and executed by the script engine.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein said re-rendering comprises the script engine calling one or more rendering elements that are associated with at least a portion of the skin to notify the one or more rendering elements that they must be re-rendered.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein said calling comprises providing one or more parameters associated with the re-rendering to the one or more rendering elements.

57. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a skin definition file that contains information associated with a skin, and one or more other files that are associated with the skin, the skin definition file comprising an XML file;

process the skin definition file to provide a hierarchical data structure that describes the skin; and

process the hierarchical data structure to provide an object model for rendering the skin, the object model comprising;

one or more rendering elements, each rendering element being associated with a skin element and being configured for use in rendering their associated skin element; and

a script engine configured to receive and execute script files associated with one or more of the rendering elements, the script files defining a degree of interactivity for the skin.

58. A method of providing a skin comprising:

rendering a skin;

ascertaining whether a defined event associated with the rendered skin has occurred; and

responsive to the defined event occurring, re-rendering the skin, said re-rendering taking place at runtime.

65. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

render a skin;

ascertain whether a user-defined event associated with the rendered skin has occurred; and

responsive to the defined event occurring, re-render the skin, said re-rendering taking place at runtime.

66. The computer-readable media of claim 65, wherein the instructions cause the computer to:

ascertain whether an internal event has occurred; and

responsive to the internal event occurring, re-render the skin.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein said defining of the one or more subviews comprises doing so using an XML data structure.

69. The method of claim 67, wherein said recalculating of the visible region associated with the parent node comprises summing multiple visible regions.

70. The method of claim 67, wherein said re-rendering takes place at runtime.

71. The method of claim 67, wherein said defining of the tree structure comprises doing so at runtime.

67. A method of rendering a skin comprising:

defining one or more subviews, each subview corresponding to a subsection within a skin that can be moved or hidden;

defining multiple visible regions, individual visible regions being associated with the one or more subviews, the visible regions representing individual areas to which their associated one or more subviews are drawn;

defining a tree structure having multiple nodes, each node being associated with a visible region and having one or more attributes;

recalculating a visible region for a node responsive to an attribute change for the visible region;

recalculating a visible region associated with a parent node of said node; and

after said acts of recalculating, re-rendering a skin associated with the tree structure.

72. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

define one or more subviews using an XML data structure, each subview corresponding to a subsection within a skin that can be moved or hidden;

define multiple visible regions, individual visible regions being associated with the one or more subviews, the visible regions representing individual areas to which their associated one or more subviews are drawn;

define a tree structure having multiple nodes, each node being associated with a visible region and having one or more attributes;

recalculate a visible region for a node responsive to an attribute change for the visible region;

recalculate a visible region associated with a parent node of said node; and

responsive to said acts of recalculating, re-render a skin associated with the tree structure.