Graphical user interface including dynamic sizing and spacing

• US 5,347,627 A
• Filed: 04/07/1992
• Issued: 09/13/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Malcolm, Jerry W., Montgomery, John D., Stone, Steve S., Hoffmann, Robert P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Application Number:
  US07/864,766
• Time in Patent Office: 889 Days
• Field of Search: 395/155, 395/161, 395/156, 395/157, 395/158, 395/159, 364/419.1, 364/419.14, 345/119, 345/120
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A method of defining, creating, or editing a graphical user interface panel. According to the method, a user opens a graphical user interface source code file. This source code file contains an entry for the user interface panel and for each object, as an icon, an action bar, or the like, within the panel. The object entries include the size and location of the object. The user edits the source code file in a dynamic sizing, What You See Is What You Get environment. A compiler compiles the graphical user interface source code file to form a graphical user interface object code file. The compiler also updates the size and location object entries of each graphical object, dynamically sizing the size and location object entries.

Claims

1. A method of doing one or more of defining, creating, or editing a graphical user interface panel file comprising:

a. opening a graphical user interface source code file containing an object entry for the user interface panel and for each object within the panel, said object entries including the size and location of the object;

b. editing the graphical user interface source code file to form an edited graphical user interface source code file, and update the size and location source entries of each object;

c. compiling the edited graphical user interface source code file; and

d. storing the compiled graphical user interface object code file in a Panel Binary Intermediate file.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising dynamically sizing the size and location entries in the graphical user interface source code file during editing in a What You See Is What You Get environment.

3. A method of doing one or more of defining, creating, or editing a graphical user interface panel source code file comprising:

a. opening a graphical user interface source code file containing an object entry for the user interface panel and for each object within the panel, said object entries including the size and location of the object;

b. editing the graphical user interface source code file to form an edited graphical user interface source code file, and dynamically update the size and location source entries of each object;

c. compiling the edited graphical user interface source code file;

d. storing the compiled graphical user interface object code file in a Panel Binary Intermediate file; and

e. storing the edited graphical user interface source code file which contains tag language defining the graphical user interface panels in the form of a linked list.