Task dialog and programming interface for same

• US 20060236252A1
• Filed: 04/15/2005
• Published: 10/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Winjum, Randall K., Cummins, Charles, Miller, Jeffrey S., Miksovsky, Jan T., Brychell, Joseph J., Coburn, Mark D., Pasceri, Vincent J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,490,015 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A task dialog having a main instruction and a command region, and optionally a content and/or footer region, is automatically generated in response to a request from an application program. The task dialog main instruction is automatically sized and located so as to form a concise instruction or question located prominently in the dialog. A command region is below the instruction and includes UI controls for responding to the dialog. Optional content and footer regions can be used by a developer for inclusion of text that provides guidance to the user regarding the main instruction. If included, however, the content and/or footer regions are automatically sized and placed so that they do not obscure the main instruction or the command region controls.

Claims

1. A method of creating a dialog user interface at the request of a computer program having one or more files, comprising:

(a) receiving from the computer program a request to generate a dialog user interface, the request at least including

(i) data indicative of a main instruction to be displayed within the dialog,

(ii) data indicative of at least one user interface control, to be provided as part of the dialog, permitting a computer user to respond to the dialog, and

(iii) data indicative of text supplemental to the main instruction; and

(b) generating the dialog in response to the received instruction, wherein

(i) the main instruction is prominently sized and located within the dialog, the size and location of the main instruction being specified by at least one theme file containing data controlling dialog display parameters, the at least one theme file being distinct from the one or more files of the computer program requesting generation of the dialog,

(ii) the supplemental text is sized and located within the dialog so as to be distinguishable from and less prominent than the main instruction, the size and location of the supplemental text being specified by the at least one theme file, and

(iii) the at least one user interface control is sized and located within the dialog based on data from the at least one theme file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the request received in step (a) includes data specifying which of at least two supplemental text regions is to contain the supplemental text,

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to contain the supplemental text in the specified supplemental text region, and

the size and location of the supplemental text within the specified supplemental text region is specified by the at least one theme file.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein one of the at least one supplemental text regions comprises either a footer region located beneath a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control, or a content region located above a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control and beneath a region of the dialog containing the main instruction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises receiving the request in a single programming interface call.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the request received in step (a) includes data indicative of additional text to be displayed with the supplemental text, and

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to either

(1) display the additional text with the supplemental text within the specified supplemental text region and to provide an additional user interface control, the additional user interface control selectable by the user to collapse the specified supplemental text region so as to display the supplemental text without the additional text, or

(2) display the supplemental text without the additional text within the specified supplemental text region and to provide an additional user interface control, the additional user interface control selectable by the user to expand the specified supplemental text region so as to display the supplemental and the additional text.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the request received in step (a) includes data indicative of text for inclusion in a content region and data indicative of text for inclusion in a footer region,

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to locate the content region above a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control and beneath a region of the dialog containing the main instruction,

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to locate the footer region beneath a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control, and

the sizes and locations of the text within the content and footer regions are specified by the at least one theme file.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the content region contains text having a font size smaller than a font size of the main instruction, the main instruction and content region font sizes being specified by the at least one theme file.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the request of step (a) fuirther comprises data indicative of whether an icon is to be displayed in a region of the requested dialog containing the main instruction and data indicative of whether an icon is to be displayed in the footer region, and

step (b) further comprises displaying icons in the main instruction and footer regions, the locations and sizes of the displayed icons being specified by the at least one theme file.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data received as part (iii) of the request in step (a) includes data indicative of a hyperlink,

step (b) includes determining whether the request of step (a) includes separate data indicative of whether the hyperlink should be enabled, and

step (b) further includes generating the dialog with the hyperlink enabled or disabled based on the presence or absence of the separate data.

10. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps of a method for creating a dialog user interface at the request of a computer program having one or more files, the steps comprising:

(a) receiving from the computer program a request to generate a dialog user interface, the request at least including

(i) data indicative of a main instruction to be displayed within the dialog,

(ii) data indicative of at least one user interface control, to be provided as part of the dialog, permitting a computer user to respond to the dialog, and

(iii) data indicative of text supplemental to the main instruction; and

(b) generating the dialog in response to the received instruction, wherein

(i) the main instruction is prominently sized and located within the dialog, the size and location of the main instruction being specified by at least one theme file containing data controlling dialog display parameters, the at least one theme file being distinct from the one or more files of the computer program requesting generation of the dialog,

(ii) the supplemental text is sized and located within the dialog so as to be distinguishable from and less prominent than the main instruction, the size and location of the supplemental text being specified by the at least one theme file, and

(iii) the at least one user interface control is sized and located within the dialog based on data from the at least one theme file.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

the request received in step (a) includes data specifying which of at least two supplemental text regions is to contain the supplemental text,

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to contain the supplemental text in the specified supplemental text region, and

the size and location of the supplemental text within the specified supplemental text region is specified by the at least one theme file.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein one of the at least one supplemental text regions comprises either a footer region located beneath a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control, or a content region located above a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control and beneath a region of the dialog containing the main instruction.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein step (a) comprises receiving the request in a single programming interface call.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein:

the request received in step (a) includes data indicative of additional text to be displayed with the supplemental text, and

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to either

(1) display the additional text with the supplemental text within the specified supplemental text region and to provide an additional user interface control, the additional user interface control selectable by the user to collapse the specified supplemental text region so as to display the supplemental text without the additional text, or

(2) display the supplemental text without the additional text within the specified supplemental text region and to provide an additional user interface control, the additional user interface control selectable by the user to expand the specified supplemental text region so as to display the supplemental and the additional text.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

the request received in step (a) includes data indicative of text for inclusion in a content region and data indicative of text for inclusion in a footer region,

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to locate the content region above a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control and beneath a region of the dialog containing the main instruction,

the dialog is generated in step (b) so as to locate the footer region beneath a region of the dialog containing the at least one user interface control, and

the sizes and locations of the text within the content and footer regions are specified by the at least one theme file.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the content region contains text having a font size smaller than a font size of the main instruction, the main instruction and content region font sizes being specified by the at least one theme file.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein:

the request of step (a) further comprises data indicative of whether an icon is to be displayed in a region of the requested dialog containing the main instruction and data indicative of whether an icon is to be displayed in the footer region, and

step (b) further comprises displaying icons in the main instruction and footer regions, the locations and sizes of the displayed icons being specified by the at least one theme file.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

the data received as part (iii) of the request in step (a) includes data indicative of a hyperlink,

step (b) includes determining whether the request of step (a) includes separate data indicative of whether the hyperlink should be enabled, and

step (b) further includes generating the dialog with the hyperlink enabled or disabled based on the presence or absence of the separate data.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein step (b) comprises:

(iv) determining whether the request of step (a) includes data indicative of a user interface control having one of a collection of predefined commands, and

(v) determining whether the request of step (a) includes data indicative of a user interface control and of command text, for display as part of said control, which is not part of the collection of predefined commands.

20. A software architecture for creating dialog user interfaces, comprising:

(a) at least one component configured to generate a dialog user interface on a computer display, wherein

(i) the at least one component includes at least one theme file containing data controlling display parameters of the generatable dialog,

(i) the generatable dialog has a format defmed by the at least one component, the format including a main instruction prominently sized and located within the dialog, the size and location of the main instruction being specified by the at least one theme file,

(ii) the format further includes supplemental text sized and located within the dialog so as to be distinguishable from and less prominent than the main instruction, the size and location of the supplemental text being specified by the at least one theme file, and

(iii) the format further includes at least one user interface control sized and located within the dialog based on data from the at least one theme file; and

(b) at least one application program interface to access the at least one component, the at least one application program interface configured to receive data indicative of a main instruction, data indicative of at least one user interface control, and data indicative of supplemental text.