User-modifiable popup menus for object oriented behavior

• US 5,345,550 A
• Filed: 12/23/1992
• Issued: 09/06/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bloomfield, Marc A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): VO, CLIFF N
• Application Number:
  US07/996,983
• Time in Patent Office: 622 Days
• Field of Search: 395/159, 395/160, 395/161, 395/157, 395/156, 395/155, 395/158
• US Class Current: 715/841
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A graphical user interface for a data processing system includes a method of generating a popup menu of actions allowed on an object represented in the graphical user interface. The method includes the steps of interrogating extended attributes for an object and each elder object to the object. Interrogation is for default actions and suppression markers. With each interrogation step the method adds actions linked to the object or to an elder object by another application and removes actions identified by suppression markers by another application from an interim list. After interrogation of the layers for modifications from other applications, the method provides for determining if any user defined actions and suppression markers are present for the object. If yes, the user defined actions are added to the interim list and actions matched by the suppression markers are removed from the interim list. A popup menu is then generated from the interim list.

Claims

1. A method of generating menus of actions for objects depicted in a graphical user interface for a data processing system comprises the steps of:

interrogating extended attributes for an object and for parent objects to the object for actions and action suppression markers, which were placed as extended attributes by applications;

with interrogation of the extended attributes for the object or a parent object, adding actions to an interim list listed in the extended attributes and removing actions from the interim list identified by suppression markers by any application;

after interrogation of any extended attributes for the object added by an application, determining if any user defined actions and suppression markers are present in extended attributes for the object;

if the result of the determining step is affirmative, adding the user defined actions to the interim list and removing actions matched by the suppression markers from the interim list;

editing the extended attributes by;

prompting user selection of one of a plurality of editing functions including creation of a new action, change of an existing action and removal of an existing action for an object;

responsive to user selection of the step of creating a new action further prompting a user to select the action and to name the action;

storing the new action to the extended attributes for the object;

responsive to user selection of the step of changing an existing action, allowing the user to select a new name for the existing action and further determining if the existing action is user created;

responsive to determination that an existing action is user created, allowing the user to change the existing action;

responsive to user selection of removal of an existing action, determining if the existing action was user defined;

if the existing action is user defined, removing the action from the extended attributes for the object;

if the existing action is not user defined, adding a suppression marker for the action to the extended attributes for the object;

storing a changed action over an existing action in the extended attributes if the existing attribute was user created;

if the existing action was not user created, storing a marker in the extended attributes for an object so that the changed name is recovered at the time of request for the popup menu; and

2. A method of generating a menu of actions for an object in a graphical user interface as set forth in claim 1, wherein the step of editing the extended attributes further includes:

creating a program object corresponding to an application program; and

generating extended attributes for the program object including actions and action suppression markers.

3. A method of generating a menu of action for an object in a graphical user interface as set forth in claim 2, wherein actions include submenus.

4. A method of generating a menu of actions for an object in a graphical user interface as set forth in claim 1, wherein the menu is a pop up menu.

5. A data processing system comprising:

an object oriented graphical user interface;

a storage medium including extended attributes for an object and each parent object to the object for linking the object to actions and for marking actions as suppressed;

means responsive to user selection of a popup menu for an object, for interrogating extended attributes for the object and each parent object to the object for action links and action suppression markers;

means responsive to interrogation of the extended attributes for the object, or a parent object, for adding actions to an interim list if listed in the extended attributes and for removing actions from the interim list if identified by suppression markers;

means responsive to loading of an application program on the storage medium for modifying extended attributes for the application program; and

editing means responsive to user selection for modifying extended attributes for an object represented by the graphical user interface, said editing means comprising;

means for prompting user selection of one of a plurality of editing functions including creation of a new action, change of an existing action and removal of an existing action for an object;

means responsive to user selection of creation a new action for further prompting a user to define the action and to name the action;

means for storing the new action to the extended attributes for the object;

means responsive to user selection of change in an existing action for allowing the user to select a new name for the existing action and for further determining if the existing action is user created;

means responsive to determination that an existing action is user created for allowing the user to change the existing action;

means responsive to user selection of removal of an existing action for determining if the existing action is user defined;

means responsive to determination that the existing action is user defined for removing the existing action from the extended attributes for the existing object;

means responsive to determination that the existing action is not user defined for adding a suppression marker for the existing action to the extended attributes for the object;

means for storing a changed action over an existing action in the extended attributes if the existing action was user created;

means responsive to determination that an existing action was not user created for storing a marker in the extended attributes for an object so that the changed name is recovered at time of request for the popup menu;

means for determining if any user defined actions and suppression markers are present in extended attributes for the object;

means responsive to determination of the presence of user defined actions and suppression markers for adding the user defined actions to the interim list and removing actions matched by the suppression markers from the interim list; and

means for displaying the interim list as a menu.

6. A data processing system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the means responsive to loading of an application program on the storage medium for modifying extended attributes for the application program includes:

means for creating a program object corresponding to an application program; and

means for writing extended attributes for the program object including actions and action suppression markers to the storage medium.

7. A data processing system as set forth in claim 6, wherein actions include submenus.