DYNAMIC MACRO CREATION USING HISTORY OF OPERATIONS

• US 20100269041A1
• Filed: 04/20/2009
• Published: 10/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Inventors: Brown, Hans-Frederick, Kintzley, Randy A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,418,061 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/704
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45512 Command shells

Abstract

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer readable storage medium provide the ability to perform a series of steps in a graphics drawing application. A drawing is opened and a series of two or more drawing operations is performed. Subsequent to the performing, the series of the two or more drawing operations is displayed in a history list of drawing operations. An arbitrary subset of the two or more drawing operations is selected from anywhere in the history list. The selecting provides for the recording of the arbitrary selected subset. The recorded arbitrary subset of drawing operations is dynamically performed.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for performing a series of steps in a graphics drawing application:

opening a first drawing in the graphics drawing application;

performing a series of two or more drawing operations in the first drawing in the graphics drawing application;

subsequent to the performing, displaying the series of the two or more drawing operations in a history list of drawing operations;

selecting an arbitrary subset of drawing operations from anywhere in the history list of drawing operations, wherein the selecting comprises recording the arbitrary subset of drawing operations; and

dynamically performing the recorded arbitrary subset of drawing operations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the history list of drawing operations comprises a hierarchical tree structure.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising persistently storing the recorded subset of drawing operations into a macro.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the two or more drawing operations comprise geometric operations performed while editing entities within the first drawing.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically performing is performed in response to a user selecting an option from clicking a mouse button.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically performing is performed in the same first drawing.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying of the series of the two or more drawing operations comprises accepting user input that filters the series of the two or more drawing operations to those drawing operations for a specified set of one or more drawings active in the graphics drawing application.

8. An apparatus for performing a series of steps in a graphics drawing application in a computer system comprising:

(a) a computer having a memory and a processor;

(b) an application executed by the processor using the memory, wherein the application is configured to;

(i) open a first drawing in the graphics drawing application;

(ii) perform a series of two or more drawing operations in the graphics drawing application;

(iii) subsequent to the performance of the series of operations, display the series of the two or more drawing operations in a history list of drawing operations;

(iv) select an arbitrary subset of the drawing operations from anywhere in the history list of drawing operations, wherein the select comprises recording the arbitrary subset of drawing operations; and

(v) dynamically perform the recorded arbitrary subset of drawing operations.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the history list of drawing operations comprises a hierarchical tree structure.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the application is further configured to persistently store the recorded subset of drawing operations into a macro.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein each of the two or more drawing operations comprise geometric operations performed while editing entities within the first drawing.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the dynamic performance of the recorded operations is performed in response to a user selecting an option from clicking a mouse button.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the dynamic performance of the recorded operations is performed in the same first drawing.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the application is configured to display the series of the two or more drawing operations by further accepting user input that filters the series of the two or more drawing operations to those drawing operations for a specified set of one or more drawings active in the graphics drawing application.

15. A computer readable storage medium encoded with computer program instructions which when accessed by a computer cause the computer to load the program instructions to a memory therein creating a special purpose data structure causing the computer to operate as a specially programmed computer that executes a method of performing a series of steps in a graphics drawing application:

opening, using the specially programmed computer, a first drawing in the graphics drawing application;

performing, using the specially programmed computer, a series of two or more drawing operations in the graphics drawing application;

subsequent to the performing, displaying, using the specially programmed computer, the series of the two or more drawing operations in a history list of drawing operations;

selecting, using the specially programmed computer, an arbitrary subset of the drawing operations from anywhere in the history list of drawing operations, wherein the selecting comprises recording the selected arbitrary subset of drawing operations; and

dynamically performing, using the specially programmed computer, the recorded arbitrary subset of drawing operations.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the history list of drawing operations comprises a hierarchical tree structure.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising persistently storing, using the specially programmed computer, the recorded arbitrary subset of drawing operations into a macro.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein each of the two or more drawing operations comprise geometric operations performed while editing entities within the first drawing.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the dynamically performing is performed in response to a user selecting an option from clicking a mouse button.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the dynamically performing is performed in the same first drawing.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the displaying of the series of the two or more drawing operations comprises accepting user input that filters the series of the two or more drawing operations to those drawing operations for a specified set of one or more drawings active in the graphics drawing application.