Architecture for creating a user interface using a data schema

• US 20050172261A1
• Filed: 01/30/2004
• Published: 08/04/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Draine, Sean Conway, Cote, Antoine, Yuknewicz, Paul J.
• Application Number:
  US10/768,497
• Publication Number:
  US 20050172261A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/106
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

A rich user interface (UI) development framework that uses the schema of a data source to which it is relevant. The developer is able to rapidly create a data bound UI using a number of familiar gestures, including drag and drop, from the schema in a data tool window, using a designer tasks, or using a data form creation wizard. The system includes a UI generation component that allows a developer to input a number of different controls into the interface using associated control graphics. A data source object, type, or file can be passed to the UI generation component as an input. The developer chooses the desired controls and associates (or binds) the data entity of the data source with the control by any number of gestures.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates generation of a user interface, comprising:

a generation component that facilitates the use of a control in the user interface; and

a data component that accesses a data schema such that the control is associated with the data schema.

2. The system of claim 1, the generation component facilitates binding control to the data schema when a user manually associates the data schema, which includes a data field, with the control.

3. The system of claim 2, the user manually associates the control with the data schema by dragging and dropping the related data schema entity on the control.

4. The system of claim 1, the user interface is associated with a heterogeneous object that includes at least one of a database table, database stored procedure, object, and a web service result.

5. The system of claim 1 facilitates the binding of a data source to an existing user interface using the data schema.

6. The system of claim 1 facilitates the creation of multiple user interface views over the data schema.

7. The system of claim 1, at least one of a data source object, type and file can be passed to the generator component as an input.

8. The system of claim 1, the generation component generates a probable mapping of the control to an element of the data schema before applying the element to the control.

9. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for carrying out the system of claim 1.

10. A computer employing the system of claim 1.

11. The system of claim 1, the data schema is associated with a multi-dimensional data source.

12. The system of claim 1, the data schema is bound to the control one of when the control is generated or after all controls have been generated.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising an inference component that infers a state or condition and automatically performs a function in response to the inferred state or condition.

14. A system that facilitates generation of a user interface, comprising:

a generation component that facilitates the use of a plurality of controls in the user interface;

a data component that accesses a data schema such that the controls can be associated with the data schema; and

a driver component that creates a probable mapping between the controls and entities of the data schema.

15. The system of claim 14, the generation component resolves a conflict between the controls and the entities of the data schema when the probable mapping is applied.

16. The system of claim 14, the structure of the user interface determines the structure of the data schema.

17. The system of claim 14, the structure of the user interface determines the structure of a data source.

18. The system of claim 14, further comprising a persistence component that persists the structure of the user interface in order to create the data source.

19. The system of claim 14, further comprising a schema component that creates the data schema according to the user interface that was created.

20. The system of claim 14, further comprising a schema component that creates the data schema according to the user interface that was created, wherein the order in which the plurality of controls is created determines the structure of the data schema and associated data source.

21. The system of claim 14, the user interface is structured according to the platform on which the user interface is employed, the platform includes at least one of a desktop computer, a portable computer, a portable communication device, and a web server.

22. The system of claim 14, the controls are automatically selected according to a platform on which the user interface is employed.

23. A method of creating a user interface based on a data source, comprising:

generating a plurality of controls in an interface development environment;

generating a data schema that represents a structure of the data source; and

binding entities of the data schema to the plurality of controls by associating the controls and the data schema while in the development environment.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising structuring the data source according to a sequence of steps in which the user interface is created.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising structuring the data source according to a sequence of steps in which the controls are introduced and bound to the data schema.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising structuring the user interface based on a platform employed to execute the user interface.

27. The method of claim 23, further comprising saving user preferences of a user such that the user preferences are automatically invoked during another development session.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising automatically retrieving a set of forms for use in the development environment in accordance with at least one of a type of platform on which the user interface will be used, a customer for which the user interface is developed, and type of data source for which the user interface will be associated.

29. The method of claim 23, further comprising restricting use of select ones of the control according to at least one of a policy-based decision and consistency between user interfaces.

30. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for creating a user interface in association with a data source, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of controls in an interface development environment;

receiving a data schema that is representative of a structure of the data source; and

binding entities of the data schema to the plurality of controls by associating the controls and the data schema entities while in the development environment.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising storing metadata representative of a second user interface at the data source, such that access of the data source by a platform results in pushing the metadata to the platform for execution of the second user interface on the platform to view the data source.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising automatically selecting one of the plurality of controls for use in the development environment based on characteristics of a data string of the data source.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising automatically adapting the user interface for use with a second data source.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising structuring presentation of the plurality of controls according to a type of platform on which the user interface is employed.

35. A system that facilitates the creation of a data bound user interface, comprising:

means for generating a plurality of controls in an interface development environment;

means for receiving a data schema that is representative of entities of a data source; and

means for binding the entities of the data schema to the plurality of controls by associating the controls and the entities while in the development environment.

36. The system of claim 35, further comprising:

means for connecting to the data source;

means for managing content of the data source; and

means for associating the entities of the data source with select ones of the plurality of controls.

37. The system of claim 35, further comprising means for visually designing the user interface using graphical representations.

38. The system of claim 35, further comprising means for inputting a parameterized stored procedure on a form of the development environment, in response to which a corresponding parameter entry control and a result control are automatically employed.

39. The system of claim 35, further comprising:

means for selecting multiple objects, which object types include tabular and scalar;

means for associating the multiple objects automatically according to the object type; and

means for editing the user interface to reflect the object type used on a form in the development environment.

40. The system of claim 35, further comprising means for discovering if one of the plurality of controls supports simple or complex data binding.