System and method for dynamic assistance in software applications using behavior and host application models
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Abstract
A Cooperative Help Assistance (CHA) system and method provide real-time user assistance for one or more windows-based Graphic User Interface (GUI) applications or a single application'"'"'s different subsections such as web pages, running concurrently in any operating system. The CHA System enables the development of an informative assistance object independently from the original source code or development environment of the target Host Application. The assistance object can be selected by any number of user interfaces from sophisticated inference driven interactive interface search tools or categorized lists. By intercepting and monitoring user actions on a Host Application, the CHA system performs intelligent assistance in the context of the target host application program. Utilizing a Host Application Model, the CHA System and method dynamically assemble many elements in real-time or just-in-time to produce assistance sequences or elements very efficiently without having to code every interface path permutation. Paths can be dynamically generated from the Host Application Model, which enables a real-time module to offer intelligent, contextual assistance as well as real-time construction of automated, accelerated CHA Sequences or Procedures that require little or no user interaction. All assistance and information are processed and expressed by an extensive multitasking, multimedia subsystem for two dimensional (2D) and real-time three-dimensional (3D) application interfaces, which greatly enhances and extends the effectiveness of any explanation or material expression. The production of Assistant Sequences is facilitated by the Host Application Model and 2D and 3D GUI “drag and drop” interface tools.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1-35. -35. (canceled)
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36. A method of monitoring data events occurring in a computer host application, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing in a database a host application model containing logical GUI objects system GUI object properties and a GuiFramework that models the host application interface controls so as to reflect the different states of the host application;
extracting the GuiFramework from the database;
expanding the GuiFramework into an interlinked, indexed network structure in memory;
initializing data structures including a session structure;
intercepting, during execution of the host application, one or more operating system messages to obtain a plurality of information relating to a plurality of data events;
organizing the intercepted data events in the session structure;
analyzing the data events to make automated inference of a user'"'"'s interaction with the host application;
capturing user input to create action structures from runtime dynamic system GUI objects to obtain user patterns;
mapping the action structures with the logical GUI objects to determine correspondence for execution of SeqExecBuffer opcodes by interactive custom accelerated procedure processing (ICAP) and execution; and
generating potential ICAP procedures utilizing the GUIFramework, the system GUI object properties, and the user patterns. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of monitoring host application events to locate frequent user sequences, comprising the steps of:
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storing in a database a host application model containing logical GUI objects, system GUI object properties, and a GuiFramework that models the host application interface controls;
capturing user input to create action structures from runtime dynamic system GUI objects to obtain user patterns;
mapping the action structures with the logical GUI objects to determine correspondence for execution of SeqExecBuffer opcodes by interactive custom accelerated procedure processing (ICAP) and execution;
generating potential ICAP procedures utilizing the GUIFramework, the system GUI object properties, and the user patterns;
locating action events having the highest interface level position;
inspecting action structures for continuous property values representing ordinal positions with the host application;
identifying start and end points for the continuous action structures; and
generating reports and statistics relating to the user patterns, the potential ICAP procedutes, a frequency of use and manner of use of interface objects accessed by the continuous action structures.
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46. A method of diagnosing operation of a host application operating under a computer operating system, the method comprising the steps of:
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injecting a hook component and subclassing components into the host application, where the host application is supported by a container provided by the computer operating system;
intercepting events transmitted from the container or the operating system prior to the events reaching the host application;
interpreting the intercepted events into higher level logical events;
processing the higher level logical events to identify a sequence of events capable of being replicated; and
replicating the operation of the host application using the replicated sequences;
wherein the replicating step results in the diagnosis and analysis of the host application operation.
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Specification