Engine for rendering widgets using platform-specific attributes

• US 20070288858A1
• Filed: 06/09/2006
• Published: 12/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Champlin, David, Haitani, Robert, Pereira, Mindy, Liu, Judy, Nachman, George, Muller, Audrey
• Granted Patent: US 7,917,858 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A widget engine renders widgets using operating system platform-specific attributes. A widget application written at least partly in platform non-specific code is rendered by the widget engine through a series of system calls and callbacks. Upon interpreting particular code, the widget engine issues a system call to a module for performing a particular type of action. The module, based on the operating system platform, calls a platform-specific library that specifies how to carry out the action according to the operating system platform. Thereafter, using the returned platform-specific data, the widget engine renders the widget.

Claims

1. A method of rendering a widget with a computing device having a predetermined operating system platform, comprising:

receiving program code specifying at least one of a function and a layout of the widget, the program code being independent of the operating system platform;

interpreting the received program code;

issuing a system call in response to the interpreting, the system call for requesting a service from the operating system;

retrieving a user interface component specific to the operating system platform in response to the system call; and

rendering the user interface component as at least part of the widget.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a handheld computing device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the received program code comprises at least one of JavaScript code, XML code, XUL code, HTML code, and KHTML code.

4. The method of claim 1, the obtaining comprising:

calling an extensible library for the user interface component.

5. The method of claim 4, the obtaining comprising:

returning code from the extensible library;

parsing through the returned code;

arranging data in response to the parsing; and

satisfying the system call with the arranged data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the widget is fixed at a location on a display of the computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the widget is rendered on a full screen of a display of the computing device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the widget is event-driven based on at least one of a time, a date, a day of week, and a location.

9. A system having a predetermined operating system platform, comprising:

a first module arranged to issue a system call for a service from the operating system in response to interpreting program code for a widget application, the program code being independent of the operating system platform; and

a second module arranged to call a library dependent on the system call, wherein the second module is further arranged to pass data to the first module dependent on platform-specific data returned by the library, and

wherein a user interface component of the widget application is renderable using the first module dependent on the data passed by the second module.

10. The system of claim 9, the second module comprising:

a module arranged to parse a rich site summary (RSS) feed required by the widget application.

11. The system of claim 9, the second module comprising:

a module arranged to connect the system to the Internet for data required by the widget application.

12. The system of claim 9, the second module comprising:

a module arranged to parse received hypertext markup language (HTML) code.

13. The system of claim 9, the second module comprising:

a module arranged to download background data for the widget application.

14. The system of claim 9, the second module comprising:

a module arranged to parse received extensible markup language (XML) code.

15. The system of claim 9, the second module comprising:

a module arranged to at least one of write to and read from a data storage medium.

16. The system of claim 9, the second module comprising:

a module arranged to store at least one user preference for the widget application.

17. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, the instructions to:

receive program code specifying at least one of a function and a layout of a widget, the program code being independent of an operating system platform of a computer system executing the instructions;

interpret the received program code;

issue a system call in response to the interpretation, the system call for requesting a service from the operating system;

retrieve a user interface component specific to the operating system platform dependent on the system call; and

render the user interface component as at least part of the widget.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the computing device is a handheld computing device.

19. The computer-readable of claim 17, wherein the received program code comprises at least one of JavaScript code, XML code, XUL code, HTML code, and KHTML code.

20. The computer-readable of claim 17, further comprising instructions to:

call an extensible library for the user interface component.

21. The computer-readable of claim 20, further comprising instructions to:

return code from the extensible library;

parse through the returned code;

arrange data in response to the parsing; and

satisfy the system call with the arranged data.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the widget is fixed at a location on a display of the computing device.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the widget is rendered on a full screen of a display of the computing device.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the widget is event-driven based on at least one of a time, a date, a day of week, and a location.

25. A computer system having a predetermined operating system platform, comprising:

a widget engine arranged to input program code for a widget application, the program code being non-specific to the platform; and

at least one library containing platform-specific data usable for executing the program code,

wherein a user interface component for the widget application is renderable by the widget engine using the platform-specific data.