Theming Engine

• US 20130111324A1
• Filed: 10/28/2011
• Published: 05/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kern, Jonathan Fred, Andeen, Richard Eric, Baumann, Mario Roberto, Ham, Thomas Richard Allen, Kuppusamy, Ashok, Liao, Cindy, Mameri, Frederico A., Mandal, Aditi, Olson, Elisabeth, Robinson, Lionel, Park, Jane Jiyoon
• Granted Patent: US 8,621,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154

Abstract

A cascading stylesheet (CSS) file transformed with user-selected design variables is provided. One or more CSS files may be received as a first input item, and user defined colors, fonts, layout, and images may be received as a second input item. Embodiments provide for determining if the colors and fonts selected by the user are usable and legible. User-selected color and font schemes may be modified if necessary, and a modified CSS file may be outputted to a rendering engine for rendering an aesthetically pleasing, usable, and legible web page.

Claims

1. A method for transforming presentation properties of a page, the method comprising:

receiving a first input item, the first input comprising one or more values associated with a layout, color, font, or an image for defining presentation properties of the page;

receiving a second input item corresponding to the page, the second input defining one or more design variables selected by a user, the one or more design variables specifying a layout, a color scheme, a font scheme, or a background image;

modifying one or more of the one or more values associated with the layout, color, font, or image in the first input item according to the one or more design variables defined in the second input item; and

outputting the modifications into one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first input item is one or more cascading style sheet (CSS) files and the second input item is one or more theme specification files.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying one or more of the one or more values associated with the color, font, or image in the first input item according to the one or more design variables defined in the second input item further comprises determining if the one or more design variables defined in the second input item match legibility factors of values defined for default color schemes or font schemes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein if a design variable defined in the second input item does not match legibility factors of values defined for default color schemes or font schemes, modifying the design variable selected by the user to preserve legibility properties of the default color schemes or font schemes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to modifying one or more of the one or more values associated with the layout, color, font, or image in the first input item according to the one or more design variables defined in the second input item:

scanning the received first input item corresponding to the page for one or more values associated with a layout, color, font, or an image for use in the page; and

if a value associated with a layout, color, font, or an image is found, searching for a preceding annotation, the annotation indicating a modification to the layout, color, font, or image.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein if a value associated with an image is found and an annotation indicating a modification to the image is found:

outputting the value and annotation to an output buffer;

reading the image from a file path;

applying modifications to the image;

producing and storing an output file of the modified image;

outputting a path to the outputted file of the modified image; and

outputting the path to the outputted file of the modified image to the one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the image is annotated to be a background image.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the value associated with a color includes one of various color syntaxes.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein one of various color syntaxes includes a syntax comprising a translucency value.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein if a value associated with a font is found and an annotation indicating a modification to the font is found, prior to modifying the font:

searching for whether a uniform resource locator (URL) is described in the font scheme; and

if a URL is described in the font scheme, embedding the font in the one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page to a renderer for rendering a web page.

12. A system for transforming presentation properties of a page, the system comprising a theming engine operable to:

receive a first input item, the first input comprising one or more values associated with a layout, color, font, or an image for defining presentation properties of the page;

receive a second input item corresponding to the page, the second input defining one or more design variables selected by a user, the one or more design variables specifying a layout, a color scheme, a font scheme, or a background image;

scan the received first input item for a value associated with a layout, color, font, or an image for use in the page;

if a value associated with a layout, color, font, or an image is found, search for a preceding annotation, the annotation indicating a modification to the layout, color, font, or image;

if an annotation indicating a modification to the layout, color, font, or image is found, modify one or more of the one or more values associated with the layout, color, font, or image in the first input item according to the one or more design variables defined in the second input item; and

output the modifications into one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page to a renderer for rendering a web page.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the theming engine is further operable to determine if a design variable defined in the second input item matches legibility factors of values defined for default color schemes or font schemes.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein a design variable defined in the second input item does not match legibility factors of values defined for default color schemes or font schemes, the theming engine is further operable to modify the design variable selected by the user to preserve legibility properties of the default color schemes or font schemes.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein if a value associated with a font is found and an annotation indicating a modification to the font is found, prior to modifying the font the theming engine is further operable to:

search for whether a uniform resource locator (URL) is described in the font scheme; and

if a URL is described in the font scheme, embed the font in the one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein if a value associated with an image is found and an annotation indicating a modification to the image is found, the theming engine is further operable to:

output the value and annotation to an output buffer;

read the image from a file path;

apply modifications to the image;

produce and storing an output file of the modified image;

output a path to the outputted file of the modified image; and

output the path to the outputted file of the modified image to the one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the image is annotated to be a background image and a value associated with a color includes a syntax comprising a translucency value.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the first input item is a set of CSS files, the second input item is one or more theme specification files, and the one or more style sheets for defining the presentation properties of the page is a set of transformed CSS files.

19. A computer readable medium containing computer-executable instructions which when executed by a computer perform a method for transforming presentation properties of a web page, the method comprising:

receiving a first input item, the first input item comprising one or more values associated with a layout, color, font, or an image for defining presentation properties of the web page;

receiving a second input item corresponding to the page, the second input defining one or more design variables selected by a user, the one or more design variables specifying a layout, a color scheme, a font scheme, or a background image;

scanning the received first input item for a value associated with a layout, color, font, or an image for use in the web page;

if a value associated with a layout, color, font, or an image is found, searching for a preceding annotation, the annotation indicating a modification to the layout, color, font, or image;

if an annotation indicating a modification to the layout, color, font, or image is found, determining if the one or more design variables defined in the second input item match legibility factors of values defined for default color schemes or font schemes;

if a design variable defined in the second input item does not match legibility factors of values defined for default color schemes or font schemes, modifying the design variable selected by the user to preserve legibility properties of the default color schemes or font schemes;

if a design variable defined in the second input item matches legibility factors of values defined for default color schemes or font schemes, modifying the value associated with the layout, color, font, or image in the one or more received CSS files according to the design variable defined in the second input item; and

outputting the modifications into a set of transformed set of CSS files to a renderer for rendering the web page.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19, further comprising if a value associated with a font is found and an annotation indicating a modification to the font is found, searching for whether a uniform resource locator (URL) is described in the font scheme, and if a URL is described in the font scheme, embedding the font in the transformed set of CSS files.