Method and system for generating an auto-completion list for a cascading style sheet selector

• US 20060224553A1
• Filed: 04/01/2005
• Published: 10/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tchaitchian, Hessan, Chartier, Daniel P., Chtcherbatchenko, Andrei V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,447,706 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/221 Parsing markup language streams streaming G06F40/149
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/274 Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs

Abstract

An auto-completion list for a cascading style sheet (CSS) selector is generated based on user input and contextual information associated with a target document. The user input that triggers the generation of the auto-completion list is entered while creating a CSS selector. A CSS block in the target document is parsed to determine the contextual information associated with the target document corresponding to the user input. The contextual information and the user input are analyzed to determine appropriate elements to add to the CSS selector to complete CSS selector syntax. The appropriate elements are provided in the auto-completion list. The auto- completion list is displayed proximate the location where the user entered the input that triggered generation of the auto-completion list. The user may then select one of the elements displayed in the auto-completion list to add the selected element to the CSS selector syntax.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating an auto-completion list for a cascading style sheet (CSS) selector, comprising:

receiving user input that triggers generation of the auto-completion list;

parsing a target document that is associated with the CSS selector;

collecting from the parsed target document contextual information associated with the CSS selector;

analyzing the contextual information and the user input to determine elements that may be used to complete the CSS selector;

creating the auto-completion list with the elements;

displaying the auto-completion list; and

receiving a selection of one of the elements to add the selected element to the CSS selector.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving user input further comprises receiving at least one of:

a hash, a space, a period, a curly bracket, and a colon when the user enters characters that comprise the CSS selector.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein collecting contextual information further comprises at least one of:

collecting contextual information from a portion of the target document proximate the location corresponding to the received user input;

collecting contextual information from the CSS selector; and

determining an element preceding the location corresponding to the received user input.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein displaying the auto-completion list further comprises displaying the auto-completion list in a location proximate the received user input.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the target document is a markup language document.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the elements correspond to at least one of:

tags, classes, pseudo-classes, identifiers, attributes, values and properties.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a tool tip proximate the location where the user input is received, wherein:

the tool tip prompts the user with the order in which elements are to be entered; and

the elements are reordered when the user enters the elements in an order that is different than the prompted order.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein creating the auto-completion list further comprises saving class attribute values when the elements are classes.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein creating the auto-completion list further comprises saving identifier attribute values when the elements are identifiers.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein creating the auto-completion list further comprises saving pseudo-classes that may be added to the CSS selector when the elements are pseudo-classes.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein creating the auto-completion list further comprises saving tags that may be added to the CSS selector in schema associated with the target document when the elements are tags and the collected contextual information does not include tags.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein creating the auto-completion list further comprises saving tags that may be added to the CSS selector in the collected contextual information when the elements are tags.

13. A system for generating an auto-completion list for a CSS selector, comprising:

means for receiving user input that triggers generation of the auto-completion list;

means for parsing a target document that is associated with the CSS selector;

means for collecting from the parsed target document contextual information associated with the CSS selector;

means for analyzing the contextual information and the user input to determine elements that may be used to complete the CSS selector, wherein the elements comprise at least one of;

tags, classes, pseudo-classes, identifiers, attributes, values and properties;

means for creating the auto-completion list with the elements;

means for displaying the auto-completion list; and

means for receiving a selection of one of the elements to add the selected element to the CSS selector.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein means for creating the auto-completion list further comprises means for saving class attribute values when the elements are classes.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein means for creating the auto-completion list further comprises means for saving identifier attribute values when the elements are identifiers.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein means for creating the auto-completion list further comprises means for saving pseudo-classes that may be added to the CSS selector when the elements are pseudo-classes.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein means for creating the auto-completion list further comprises means for saving tags that may be added to the CSS selector in schema associated with the target document when the elements are tags and the collected contextual information does not include tags.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein means for creating the auto-completion list further comprises means for saving tags that may be added to the CSS selector in the collected contextual information when the elements are tags.

19. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for generating an auto-completion list for a CSS selector, comprising:

receiving user input that triggers generation of the auto-completion list;

parsing a target document that is associated with the CSS selector;

collecting from the parsed target document contextual information associated with the CSS selector;

analyzing the contextual information and the user input to determine elements that may be used to complete the CSS selector;

creating the auto-completion list with the elements; and

displaying the auto-completion list.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising receiving a selection of one of the elements to add the selected element to the CSS selector.