PROGRESSIVE LOADING FOR WEB-BASED SPREADSHEET APPLICATIONS

• US 20130332811A1
• Filed: 06/07/2012
• Published: 12/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Chang, Ming-Hsiung, Hung, Shao-Yi, Chen, Peng-Jen, Chen, Li-Hui, King, Hung-Ju, Huang, Hsin Hui
• Granted Patent: US 10,061,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

Concepts and technologies are described herein for progressive loading for web-based spreadsheet applications. In accordance with the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a user device can access data from a remote source such as a server computer. The user device can determine dimensions of a viewport corresponding to a viewable portion of the data, a window associated with the viewport, and a preloaded area associated with the window. The user device can request the data associated with the window and the preloaded area and store the data in a cache associated with the user device. The cached data can be used by the user device to generate UIs for displaying the spreadsheet. If the user device detects movement of the viewport, the user device can render a new UI in response to the movement. The user device also can be configured to update and/or clean the cache.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying data corresponding to a web-based spreadsheet, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:

receiving, at a computer executing a progressive loading module, a request for the data;

determining a viewport size of a viewport corresponding to a viewable portion of the web-based spreadsheet;

determining a window size of a window corresponding to a portion of the spreadsheet adjacent to the viewport and a preloaded area corresponding to a further portion of the spreadsheet adjacent to the window;

obtaining the data from a data storage device corresponding to the viewport, the window, and the preloaded area;

storing the data in a cache associated with the computer; and

displaying the viewport at the computer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if input for moving the viewport is detected at the computer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the viewport comprises displaying the viewport on a touch-sensitive display associated with the computer, and wherein determining if the input is detected comprises determining if a touch gesture corresponding to a pan command is detected at the computer.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining if data associated with a moved viewport exists in the cache in response to determining that the input is detected, the moved viewport comprising a portion of the spreadsheet to which the viewport is moved.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying the moved viewport, in response to determining that the data associated with the moved viewport exists in the cache.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the portion of the spreadsheet to which the viewport is moved comprises at least a portion of the window or the preloaded area.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising obtaining the data associated with the moved viewport from the data storage device, in response to determining that the data associated with the moved viewport does not exist in the cache.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data storage device comprises a server computer executing a web-based spreadsheet application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the window size of the window comprises determining, based upon the viewport size, the window size.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the data from the data storage device comprises:

determining the viewport size and the window size at runtime execution of an application program used to render the viewport;

providing the viewport size and the window size to the data storage device; and

receiving hypertext markup language elements from the data storage device, the hypertext markup language elements being generated at the data storage device and comprising data associated with the viewport and the window.

11. A computer storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereupon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive, at the computer, a request for data corresponding to a spreadsheet;

determine, during runtime execution of an application program used to render the spreadsheet at the computer, a viewport size of a viewport corresponding to a portion of the web-based spreadsheet viewable at the computer;

determine, based at least partially upon the viewport size, a window size of a window corresponding to a portion of the spreadsheet adjacent to the viewport;

determine, based at least partially upon the window size, a preloaded area corresponding to a portion of the spreadsheet adjacent to the window;

obtain the data from a server computer executing a spreadsheet application, the data corresponding to contents of the viewport, the window, and the preloaded area;

store the data in a cache associated with the computer; and

display the viewport at the computer.

12. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein the window size is proportional to the viewport size and the preloaded area comprises each cell that borders the window.

13. The computer storage medium of claim 11, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

determine if a cache cleaning process is to be executed at the computer; and

clean the cache, in response to determining that the cache cleaning process is to be executed.

14. The computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein the cache cleaning process comprises identifying an oldest portion of the data stored in the cache and deleting the oldest portion of the data from the cache.

15. The computer storage medium of claim 12, wherein obtaining the data from the server computer comprises:

determine a range of cells associated with the window;

request the range of cells from the server computer;

obtain the range of cells from the server computer; and

store the range of cells in the cache.

16. The computer storage medium of claim 11, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

determine if input for moving the viewport is detected at the computer;

in response to determining that the input is detected, determine if data associated with a moved viewport is stored in the cache, the moved viewport comprising a portion of the spreadsheet to which the viewport is moved;

display the moved viewport, in response to determining that the data associated with the moved viewport is stored in the cache;

obtain the data associated with the moved viewport from the server computer, in response to determining that the data associated with the moved viewport is not stored in the cache; and

display the moved viewport at the computer.

17. The computer storage medium of claim 16, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

determine a range of cells associated with a moved window;

request the range of cells from the server computer;

obtain the range of cells from the server computer; and

store the range of cells in the cache.

18. A computer storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereupon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive, at the computer, a request for data corresponding to a spreadsheet;

determine, during runtime execution of an application program used to render the spreadsheet at the computer, a viewport size of a viewport corresponding to a portion of the web-based spreadsheet viewable at the computer;

determine, based at least partially upon the viewport size, a window size of a window corresponding to a portion of the spreadsheet adjacent to the viewport wherein the window size is proportional to the viewport size;

determine, based at least partially upon the window size, a preloaded area corresponding to a portion of the spreadsheet adjacent to the window, wherein the preloaded area includes each cell that borders the window;

determine a range of cells associated with the window and the preloaded area;

obtain a portion of the data from a server computer executing a spreadsheet application, the portion of the data corresponding to the range of the cells;

store the data in a cache associated with the computer; and

display the viewport at the computer.

19. The computer storage medium of claim 18, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

determine if input for moving the viewport is detected at the computer;

in response to determining that the input is detected, determine if data associated with a moved viewport is stored in the cache, the moved viewport comprising a portion of the spreadsheet to which the viewport is moved;

display the moved viewport, in response to determining that the data associated with the moved viewport is stored in the cache;

obtain the data associated with the moved viewport from the server computer, in response to determining that the data associated with the moved viewport is not stored in the cache; and

display the moved viewport at the computer.

20. The computer storage medium of claim 18, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

determine if a cache cleaning process is to be executed at the computer; and

clean the cache, in response to determining that the cache cleaning process is to be executed.