Graphical resource editor for software customization

• US 5,603,034 A
• Filed: 06/07/1995
• Issued: 02/11/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Swanson, Sara J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kriess, Kevin A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chaki, Kakali
• Application Number:
  US08/479,262
• Time in Patent Office: 615 Days
• Field of Search: 395/155, 395/DIG. 1, 395/DIG. 2, 395/700
• US Class Current: 717/111
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131

Abstract

A graphical resource editor for selectively modifying graphical resources in software applications provides a main window graphical user interface object for interaction with the graphical resource editor. The main window contains a resource category selection object including a list of selectable resource category objects. These objects contain resource category descriptors corresponding to categories of editable resources. The resource category selection object provides a user activatable interface for selecting among the list of resource category objects an editable resource category. The graphical resource editor further includes a system responsive to user activation of the resource category selection object for generating in the main window a list of resource descriptors corresponding to selected category of editable resources. A plurality of resource value display fields are provided in the main window for displaying resource values representing the status of the selected category of editable resources. Also provided in the main window is a set of resource value selection objects providing user activatable interfaces for setting editable resource values. Customization of software applications may performed statically by saving resource edits to an application resource file, or dynamically by applying resource edits on-the-fly to an application running concurrently with the graphical resource editor.

Claims

1. In an application resource editor for customizing graphical resources of a software application executing concurrently with the application resource editor in a data processing system, a method for dynamic customization of the software application comprising the steps of:

displaying a list of resources in said software application that are capable of modification;

determining from user input an application resource to be modified from said list of resources and a resource value representing an attribute of said resource to be modified;

searching a list of resources in a resource database maintained by said software application and identifying matching resources in said resource database corresponding to said resource to be modified; and

applying said resource value to each matching resource in said resource database in order to change the values of said matching resources and thereby customize said software application.

2. In a data processing system, the data processing system having a data processing unit, a video display terminal, a keyboard, a cursor control system including a screen cursor and a user actuatable cursor positioner for providing control inputs to the data processing system, a data storage resource, and a graphical user interface system through which software applications running on the data processing system generate one or more graphical window objects on the video display terminal to provide user interaction functionality for the software applications, the appearance and behavior of the graphical window objects being partially determined by resources, a graphical resource editor for dynamically modifying selected resources in a software application running concurrently with the graphical resource editor in the data processing system, comprising:

means for displaying a list of resources in said software application that are capable of modification;

means for determining from user input an application resource to be modified from said list of resources and a resource value representing an attribute of the said resource to be modified;

means for searching a list of resources in a resource database maintained by said application and identifying matching resources in said resource database corresponding to said resource to be modified; and

means for applying said resource value to each matching resource in said resource database in order to change the values of said matching resources and thereby customize said software application.

3. A graphical resource editor computer program product for dynamically modifying selected resources in a software application running concurrently with the graphical resource editor product in a data processing system, the data processing system having a data processing unit, a video display terminal, a keyboard, a cursor control system including a screen cursor and a user actuatable cursor positioner for providing control inputs to the data processing system, a data storage resource, and a graphical user interface system through which software applications running on the data processing system generate one ore more graphical window objects on the video display terminal to provide user interaction functionality for the software applications, the appearance and behavior of the graphical window objects being partially determined by resources, the graphical resource editor product comprising:

a data storage medium adapted to store digital information readable by said data processing system;

means stored on said data storage medium for displaying a list of resources in said software application that are capable of modification;

means stored on said data storage medium for determining from user input an application resource to be modified from said list of resources and a resource value representing an attribute of said resource to be modified;

means recorded on said data storage medium for searching a list of resources in a resource database maintained by said application and identifying matching resources in said resource database corresponding to said resource to be modified; and

means recorded on said data storage medium for applying said resource value to each matching resource in said resource database in order to change the values of said matching resources and thereby customize said software application.