PROVIDING DESIGN TIME PROJECTIONS FOR A VISUAL PROGRAM

• US 20140372974A1
• Filed: 06/17/2013
• Published: 12/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Welicki, Leon Ezequiel, Shyamsundar, Balasubramanian, Wolf, Kenneth David
• Granted Patent: US 9,575,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/109
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/31 Programming languages or programming paradigms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/311 Functional or applicative languages; Rewrite languages
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/433 Dependency analysis; Data or control flow analysis

Abstract

Embodiments are directed to presenting multiple projections of a declarative program and to presenting partial projections of a declarative program. In one scenario, a computer system establishes a declarative program that includes various artifacts. The computer system displays a first projection of the declarative program, which includes one or more elements of a workflow. The computer system then determines that an additional projection is to be displayed in addition to the first projection, and presents a second projection based on the artifacts of the declarative program. The second projection illustrates the artifacts in a form different than that shown in the first projection, and is presented in addition to the first projection. In some cases, the computer system further receives an input and edits the declarative program according to the received input. The edits to the declarative program are substantially lossless, and can be performed using partial or full projections.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising the following:

one or more processors;

system memory;

one or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the computing system to perform a method for presenting multiple projections of a declarative program, the method comprising the following;

an act of establishing a declarative program that includes one or more artifacts;

an act of displaying a first projection of the declarative program, the first projection including one or more elements of a workflow;

an act of determining that at least one additional projection is to be displayed in addition to the first projection; and

an act of presenting a second projection based on the one or more artifacts of the declarative program, the second projection illustrating the artifacts in a form different than that shown in the first projection, the second projection being presented in addition to the first projection.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more artifacts comprise workflow activities, each workflow activity comprising one or more pulses of work.

3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the workflow comprises a representation of a business activity.

4. The computer system of claim of 1, wherein the declarative program is executable in a continuation-based runtime.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the declarative program comprises a long-running program.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein a computer system user specifies that the at least one additional projection is to be displayed in addition to the first projection.

7. The computer system of claim of claim 1, further comprising:

an act of determining a computer system user'"'"'s declarative program objectives; and

an act of defining the second projection in accordance with the computer system user'"'"'s determined objectives.

8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the second projection is generated by the computer system as part of the declarative program.

9. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the second projection provides a different user experience for the same declarative program artifact.

10. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising:

an act of receiving a user input indicating an intent to switch from the first projection to the second projection; and

an act of displaying the first projection over the second projection.

11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein one or more presentation images are automatically updated with data from the one or more artifacts.

12. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the second projection comprises a text representation that is semantically equivalent to the artifact'"'"'s data structure.

13. A computer system comprising the following:

one or more processors;

system memory;

one or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the computing system to perform a method for presenting partial projections of a declarative program, the method comprising the following;

an act of establishing a declarative program that includes one or more artifacts;

an act of identifying at least one form of the declarative program that is to be presented in a partial projection; and

an act of displaying the partial projection presentation in addition to the one or more artifacts of the declarative program.

14. The computer system of claim 13, further comprising an act of generating the partial projection for the identified form of the declarative program.

15. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the partial projection is provided by a third party.

16. The computer system of claim 13, further comprising showing one or more binding terminals that are currently available in the partial projection presentation.

17. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the partial projection presentation comprises an event-driven overlay.

18. A computer system comprising the following:

one or more processors;

system memory;

one or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the computing system to perform a method for presenting partial projections of a declarative program, the method comprising the following;

an act of establishing a declarative program that includes one or more artifacts;

an act of identifying at least one form of the declarative program that is to be presented in a partial projection;

an act of generating a partial projection for the identified form of the declarative program;

an act of displaying the generated partial projection presentation in addition to the one or more artifacts of the declarative program;

an act of receiving an input indicating that one or more of the artifacts being displayed in the partial projection are to be edited; and

an act of editing the declarative program based on the received input.

19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein edits performed to the declarative program through the partial projection are substantially lossless, such that data is not lost when artifacts are edited in the partial projection.

20. The computer system of claim 18, wherein the partial presentation comprises an outline view with one or more elements and one or more corresponding relationships between the elements.