Sidebar engine, object model and schema

• US 20070044029A1
• Filed: 08/18/2005
• Published: 02/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Erickson, Paul, Amadio, Louis, Teutsch, Brian, Fisher, Oliver
• Granted Patent: US 7,644,391 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45512 Command shells

Abstract

An engine is provided for displaying an application for hosting a second application. The hosting application can be a sidebar on a display. The engine can contain a part or program which can include a manifest file, a definition file and/or a script file. The manifest file may contain a pointer to at least one of the definition file and the script file. The engine may also contain a loader that can locate the definition file and/or script file (e.g., via pointers in the manifest file) and load the definition file and/or script files of the part for processing. The engine may also execute script associated with the part and convert an object model into a user interface which can be displayed at a predetermined location on a display or docked onto a sidebar. The user interface can further be manipulated or relocated within the sidebar or removed (i.e., undocked) from the sidebar. The sidebar may be exploded or imploded with the corresponding parts on the sidebar displayed on the desktop or another application (exploded) or returned to the sidebar (imploded).

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

a memory storing computer readable instructions and data, comprising;

a definition data file defining an object model corresponding to a user interface;

a script data file containing executable computer code defining actions corresponding to the user interface;

a program parser module for creating the object model of the user interface based on the definition data file and converting the object model to the user interface;

a script engine module for parsing the script data file and creating an event based on the parsing of the script data file;

a settings module for storing configuration settings for instantiation of the user interface; and

a loader component module for one of passing the definition data file to the program parser or passing the script data file to the script engine.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the loader component module passes the definition file to the program parser module.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the loader component module passes the script file to the script engine module, which executes the loader component module.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the program parser module injects the object model into the script engine module.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a system object model containing procedures corresponding to the object model and information on characteristics of the object model.

6. The system of claim 5 further comprising a settings object model for storing an instance of at least one of the definition file, the script file, and a manifest file.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the program parser injects the system object model and the object model into the script engine.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the script file is hooked up to the object model.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the object model fires an event and execution of the script file accomplishes the event.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising a user interface including:

a first display element defined by the definition file; and

a second display element corresponding to a docking area on a computer display,

wherein the first display element is capable of being displayed within the second display.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the user interface further includes a third display element, the first display element being displayed in the third display element.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the selection of the first display element causes the first display element to be displayed in the second display element.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the second display element of the user interface comprises a sidebar.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the first display element is docked onto the sidebar.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer-readable instructions further comprise a pointer file containing a pointer to one of the definition file and the script file.

16. A method for providing information in an application on a display comprising:

providing a first pointer, the first pointer indicating a file path to a location of one of a file or a directory;

searching the location indicated by the first pointer for a pointer file containing at least a second pointer indicating the location of at least one of a definition file and a script file, the definition file containing computer code for creating an object model corresponding to a user interface and the script file containing computer code for executing the object model corresponding to the user interface;

parsing the at least one of the definition file and the script file;

creating a representation of an object model corresponding to the definition file if the second pointer indicates the location of the definition file; and

converting the representation of the object model into the user interface.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the second pointer indicates the location of the definition file.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the pointer file further contains a third pointer indicating the location of the script file.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising executing the script file to create an event corresponding to the user interface.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising receiving hooking up the script file to the representation of the object model.