Method and system for in-place interaction with contained objects

• US 5,613,058 A
• Filed: 04/15/1994
• Issued: 03/18/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Williams, Antony S., McDaniel, Richard, Hodges, C. Douglas, Koppolu, Srinivasa R., MacKichan, Barry B., Remala, Rao V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung, Kee M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUYNH, BA
• Application Number:
  US08/229,264
• Time in Patent Office: 1,068 Days
• Field of Search: 395/155-157, 395/159, 395/160, 395/161, 395/600
• US Class Current: 715/744
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/24 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/543 User-generated data transfer, e.g. clipboards, dynamic data exchange [DDE], object linking and embedding [OLE]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/955 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

A computer method and system for interacting with a containee object contained within a container object. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container object has a container application with a container window environment that has container resources for interacting with the container object. The containee object has a server application with a server window environment with server resources for interacting with the containee object. The method of the present invention displays the container window environment on a display device. A user then selects the containee object. In response to selecting the containee object, the method integrates a plurality of the server resources with the displayed container window environment. When a user then selects a server resource, the method invokes the server application to process the server resource selection. Conversely, when a user selects a container resource, the method invokes the container application to process the container resource selection.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system of activating a containee object contained within a container object, the computer system having an operating system fox scheduling execution of code, the container object having container application code with a container window environment with container resources for interacting with the container object, the cornsince object having server application code with server resources for interacting with the containee object, the method comprising the steps of:

executing the container application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system;

under control of rite separately executing container application code,

displaying the container window environment; and

displaying the containee object wiflfin the displayed container window enviromnent;

activating the containee object;

integrating and displaying a plurality of the server resources of the server application code with the container resources of the displayed container window enviroment, the server application code being separately schedulable by the operating system;

when a user selects a resource from among the integrated resources, determining whether to invoke the container application code or the server application code; and

when the selected resource is a server resource, executing the server application code as a separately scheduled entity to process the server resource selection.

2. The method of claim 1, the container application code having container menus allocated and managed by the container application code and the server application code having server menus allocated and managed by the server application code, and wherein the step of integrating and displaying a plurality of server resources comprises the substeps of:

generating a composite menu bar; and

storing a server menu and a container menu in the generated composite menu bar.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of storing interleaves server menus and container menus in the composite menu bar.

4. The method of claim 2, the container window having a menu bar for displaying a plurality of menus and wherein the composite menu bar is displayed as the menu bar of the container window.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of activating the containee object further comprises the steps of:

selecting the containee object; and

specifying an operation to be performed on the containee object.

6. A method in a computer system of interacting with a containee object contained within a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling and executing code, the container object having container application code with a container window enviromnent, the containee object having server application code with server resources for interacting with the containee object, the method comprising the steps of:

executing the container application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system;

displaying the container window environment, the container window environment having container resources for interacting with the container object;

activating the containee object within the container window environment;

integrating and displaying a plurality of the server resources within the container window environment, the server resources being part of the server application code, the server application code being separately schedulable by the operating system;

in response to selection of a server resource from among the integrated is server resources, invoking the server application code as a separately scheduled entity to process the server resource selection; and

in response to selection of a container resource from the displayed container window environment, invoking the container application code to process the container resource selection.

7. The method of claim 6, the container application code having a window within the displayed container window environment for displaying data and further comprising the step of, under control of the server application code, negotiating with the container application code to place server resources within the window.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of integrating and displaying the plurality of server resources within the container window environment is performed without the container application code knowing, in advance or at the time of displaying, what server resources are to be displayed.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the container application code and the server application code execute as separate threads in a single computer process.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of, after integating the plurality of the server resources, displaying the containee object within the container window environment with highlighting to indicate that server resources are available for user selection.

11. The method of claim 6, the container application code having a container message handler for receiving and processing messages and the server application code having a server message handler for receiving and processing messages, the container object having a current message handler for receiving and processing messages, the current message handler initially set to the container message handler, wherein the step of integrating and displaying the plurality of server resources further comprises setting the current message handler of the container object to a special message handler that sends container resource selection messages to the container message handler when a container resource is selected and that sends server resource selection messages to the server message handler when a server resource is selected.

12. The method of claim 6, the container window environment having a window and the server application code having a server window environment with a window, and including the steps of:

designating the server window environment window as having input focus for receiving user input;

receiving a menu command from a user; and

in response to receiving the menu command,

designating the container window environment window as having input focus for receiving user input;

receiving a menu mnemonic; and

in response to receiving the menu nmemonic, redesignating the server window environment window as having input focus for receiving user input.

13. The method of claim 12 where the container window environment window is an application frame window.

14. The method of claim 6, the computer system having a keyboard for inputting keys, the container application code having a plurality of accelerator key combinations for selecting container resources, the server application code having a plurality of accelerator key combinations for selecting server resources, and further comprising the step of, upon the container application code receiving an accelerator key combination, invoking the separately scheduled server application code to determine whether a server resource is selected.

15. A method in a computer system of interacting with a containee object contained within a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling execution of code, the container object having associated container application code with a plurality of container menus, the container application code having an associated menu bar for displaying a list of menus, the containee object having associated server application code with a plurality of server menus, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a composite menu list that includes a container menu and a server menu;

displaying the composite menu list in the menu bar;

in response to selection of a displayed container menu, invoking the container application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system to process the selected container menu; and

in response to selection of a displayed server menu, invoking the server application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system to process the selected server menu.

16. A method in a computer system for integrating menus from a plurality of applications executed as separately scheduled entities of an operating system, the method comprising the steps of:

executing each of the plurality of applications as a seperately scheduled entity;

specifying a set of menu groups for each executing application, each menu group having a plurality of menu items;

combining the specified menu groups from the plurality of executing applications into a composite menu;

displaying the composite menu on a display device;

selecting a menu item of a menu group of the displayed composite menu; and

invoking the executing application that defines the menu group of the selected menu item.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the plurality of separately scheduled applications includes a container application and a server application and wherein the step of displaying the composite menu displays the composite menu as a menu of the container application.

18. A computer system for activating a coatsinee object contained within a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling execution of code, the container object having container application code with a container window environment with container resources for interacting with the container object file containce object having server application code with server resources for interacting with the containee object, the system comprising:

means for displaying the container window environment;

means for displaying the containee object within the displayed container window environment;

means for activating the containee object within the displayed container window enviromnent;

means for integrating and displaying a plurality of file server resources with the container resources of the displayed container window environment;

means for determining whether to execute the container application code or the server application code when a resource is selected from among the integrated and displayed server resources; and

means for executing the server application as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system when a server resource is the selected resource, and for processing the server resource selection.

19. The system of claim 18, the container application code having container menus allocated and managed by the container application code and the server application code having server menus allocated and managed by the server application code, and wherein the integrating and displaying means includes means for generating a composite menu bar and storing a server menu and a container menu within the composite menu bar.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the generating and storing means includes means for interleaving server menus and container menus in the composite menu bar.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the container window environment has a menu bar that displays a plurality of menus and wherein the composite menu bar is displayed as the menu bar of the container window environment.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein the means for activating selects the containee object and specified an operation to be performed on the containee object.

23. A computer system for interacting with a containee object contained within a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling execution of code, the container object having container application code with a container window environment, the containee object having server application code with server resources for interacting with the containee object, the system comprising:

means for executin the container application code as a separate scheduled entity of the operating system;

means for displaying the container window environment on a display device, the container windown environment having container resources for interacting with the container object;

means for activating the containee object within the displayed container window environment;

means for integrating and displaying a plurality of the server resources of the server application code within the container window enviromnent when the containee object is activated;

means for selecting a server resource from among the integrated and displayed server resources;

means for executing the server application as a separate scheduled entity of the operating system and for invoking the executing server application to process the server resource selection when a server resource is selected;

means for selecting a container resource from among the integrated and displayed server resources; and

means for invoking the executing container application code to process the container resource selection when a container resource is selected.

24. The system of claim 23, the container application code having a window within the container window environment for displaying data and wherein the integrating and displaying means includes means for negotiating with the container application code to place server resources within the window.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the means for integrating and displaying the plurality of the server resources within the container window environment is accomplished without the container application code knowing, in advance or at the time of displaying, what server resources are to be displayed.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein the container application code and the server application code execute as separate threads in a single computer process.

27. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for displaying the containee object within the container window environment with highlighting to indicate that server resources are available for user selection.

28. The system of claim 23, the computer system including a keyboard for inputting keys, the container application code having a plurality of accelerator key combinations for selecting container resources, the server application code having a plurality of accelerator key combinations for selecting server resources, and including means for invoking the server application code as a separate executed entity to determine if a server resource is selected upon receiving an accelerator key combination.

29. A method in a computer system for activating a containee object contained within a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling execution of code and having a window system for displaying windows and for receiving user input, the computer system having an indicator for choosing an object, the container object having container application code with a container window environment with container resources for interacting with the container object, the containee object having server application code wih server resources for interacting with the containee object, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

to executing the container application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system;

displaying fire container window environment;

executing the server application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system;

displaying the containee object integrated within the displayed container window environment;

in response to a user mnoving the indicator over the displayed containee object, under control of the window system, generating an input event ands, under control of the window system, sending notification of the input event directly to the executing server application code; and

in response to indicating an action to perform on the containee object, integrating the server resources of axe setvet application code into container resources of the displayed container window environment such that, when a user selects a server resource from amongst the integrated server resources, the executing server application code processes the server resource selection.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the indicator is controlled by a computer morose, and wherein the step of integrating the server resources of the server application code occurs in response to a mouse button up event.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the server application code has user interface resources for interacting with the non-native data object, and wherein the method further comprises the step of, in response to indicating an action to perform on the non-native data object, integrating the user interface resources of the server application code into the displayed container window environment such that, when a user selects a user interface resource, the scheduled and executing server application code processes the user intexface resource selection.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the indicator is controlled by a computer mouse, and wherein the step of integrating the user interface resources of the server application code occurs in response to a single mouse click.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the container application code has user interface resources for interacting with the native data object, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

in response to indicating an action to perform on the native data object, removing the integrated user interface resources of the executing server application code from the displayed container window environment; and

after removing the integrated user interface resources of the server application code, displaying the user interface resources of the executing container application code.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises the step of, after displaying the user interface resources of the separately scheduled and executing container application code, in response to indicating an action to perform on the non-native data object, generating a third input event and sending the third input event directly to the separately scheduled and executing server application code.

31. A method in a coinpater system for interacting with a non-native data object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling execution of code and having a window system for displaying windows and for receiving user input and having an indicator for choosing a data object, the computer system having a container object for containing the non-native data object and for containing a native data object, the container object having container application code with a container window envirnment for interacting with the container object and the native data object, the non-native data object having server application code for interacting with the non-native data object, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

executing the container application code and the server application code as two separately scheduled entities of the operating system;

displaying the container window environment;

displaying the native data object integrated within the displayed is container window environment;

displaying the non-native data object integrated within tile displayed container window environment wherein, from the perspective of a user, initiating interaction with the non-native data object is substantially similar to initiating interaction with the native data object;

in response to the user moving the indicator over the displayed native data object, under control of the window system, generating a first input event and, under control of the window system sending tile first input event directly to the executing nontamer application code; and

in response to the user moving the indicator over the displayed non-native data object, under control of the window system, generating a second input event and, under control of the window system, sending notification of the second input event directly to the executing server application code.

36. A method in a computer system for interacting with a containee object contained within a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling execution of code and having a window system for displaying windows and for receiving user input and having an indicator for choosing an object, the container object having container application code with a container window environment with container resources for interacting with the container object, the containee object having server application code with server resources for interacting with the containee object, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

executing the container application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system;

displaying the container window environment;

executing tim server application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system;

displaying the containee object integrated within the displayed container window environment;

in response to a user moving the indicator over the displayed containee object, under control of the window system, generating an input event and, under control of the window system, sending notification of the input event directly to the separately scheduled and executing server application code;

in response to indicating an action to perform on rite containee object, integrating the server resources of the server application code into the container resources of the displayed container window environment, wherein, when a user selects a server resource from amongst the integrated server resources, the separately scheduled and executing server application processes the server resource selection; and

in response to indicating an action to perform on the container object, removing the integrated server resources from being integrated inlo the container resources of the displayed container window environment.

37. A method in a computer system for activating a plurality of containee objects within a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling execution of code and having a window system for displaying windows and for receiving user input, the computer system having an indicator for choosing an object, the container object having container application code with a container window environment for interacting with the container object, each of the phrality of containee objects having server application code for interacting with the containee object, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

executing the container application code as a separately scheduled entity of the operating system;

displaying the container window enviromnent;

displaying a first containee object integrated within the displayed container window environment;

displaying a second containee object within the displayed container window environment;

executing the server application code of the first containee object as a separately scheduled entity;

in response to a user moving the indicator over the displayed first containee object, under control of the window system, generating a first input event and, under control of the windows system, sending notification of the first input event directly to the executing server application code of the first containee object;

executing the server application code of the second containee object as a separately scheduled entity; and

in response to a user moving the indicator over axe displayed second containee object, under control of the window system, generating a second input event and, under control of the window system, sending notification of the second input event directly to the executing server application code of the second containee object.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein each of the plurality of containee objects has user interface resources for interacting with the containee object, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

in response to indicating an action to perform on the first eontainee object, integrating the user interface resources of the first containee object into the displayed container window environment;

in response to indicating an action to perform on the second containee object, removing the integrated user interface resources of the first containee object from the displayed container window environment; and

after removing the integrated user interface resources of the first containee object, integrating the user interface resources of the second containee object into the displayed container window environment.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of:

after integrating the user interface resources of the first containee object, displaying the integrated user interface resources; and

after integrating the user interface resources of the second containee object, displaying the integrated user interface resources.

40. A method in a computer system for activating an inside-out activation style containee object within a container object, the container object having container application code that manages a container window environment with container resources, the inside-out activation style containee object having an inside-out window for receiving user input-and having server application code for interacting with the containee object, the server application code having user interface resources for interacting with the containee object, the computer system having an indicator for choosing an object, having an operating system for scheduling execution of code, and having a window system for displaying windows and for receiving user input, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

executing the container application code as a separate executable entity of the operating system;

displaying the container window environment;

displaying the inside-out activation style containee object integrated within the container window enviromnent, wherein the inside-out window is displayed;

in response to a user moving the indicator over the displayed inside-out window, cxecutixtg the server application code as a separate executable entity of the operating system and, under control of the window system, generating an input event and sending notification of the input event directly to the separately executing server application code;

in response to selecting the displayed inside-out window, integrating the user interface resources of the server application code into the container resources of the container window environment; and

in response to selecting a user interface resource of the server application code from amongst the integrated user interface resources, under control of the separately executing the server application code processing the selected user interface resource.

41. A method in a computer system for activating an inside-out activation style containee object and an outside-in activation style containee object within a container object, the container object having a container window environment, the inside-out activation style containce objcct having an inside-out window for receiving user input and having corresponding server application code for interacting with the containee object, the outside-in activation style containee object having an outside-in window for receiving user input and having corresponding server application code for interacting with the containce object, each server application code having user interface resources for interacting with the corresponding containee object, the cornpurer system having an indicator for choosing an object, having an operating system for scheduling execution of code, and having a window system for displaying windows and for receiving user input, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

executing the container application code as a separate executable entity of the operating system;

displaying the container window environment;

displaying the inside-out activation style containee object integrated within the container window environment, wherein the inside-out window is displayed;

displaying the outside-in activation sWle containee object integrated within the container window environment without displaying the outside-in window;

upon selection of the outside-in activation style containee object, displaying the outside-in window;

executing the server application code of the outside-in activation style containee object as a separate executable entity of the operating system;

executing the server application code of the inside-out activation style containee object as a separate executable entity of the operating system;

in response to a user moving the indicator over the displayed outside-in window, under control of the window system, generating a first input event and sending notification of the first input event directly to the separately executing server application code corresponding to the outside-in activation style containee object; and

in response to a user moving the indicator over the displayed inside-out window, under control of the window system, generating a second input event and sending notification of the second input event directly to the separately executing server application code corresponding to the inside-out activation style containee object.

42. The method of claim 41, the method further comprising the step of, after displaying the outside-in window, upon selection of an object other than the outside-in activation style containee object, removing the outside-in window from the display.

43. A computer system for activating a containee object contained within a container object, the container object having container application code with a container window for interacting with the container object, the containee object having server application code with user interface resources for interacting with the containee object, the computer system comprising:

an indicator for choosing an object;

an operating systems for starting execution of the container application code as a separately schedduled entity and for starting execution of the server application code as a separately scheduled entity;

a window system that displays axe container window environment and that displays the eontainee object integrated within the displayed container window environment;

an input event generating mid handling mechanism, flint in response to moving the indicator over the displayed containee object, generates an input event, directs the operating system to start execution of the container application code and the server application code, and sends notification of the input event directly to the executing server application code; and

a resource integration mechanism, that in response to indicating an action to perform on the coatsince object, integrates the user interface resources of the server application code into the displayed container window environment such that, when a user selects a user interface resource from amongst the integrarod user interface resource, the separately scheduled and executing server application code processes the user interface resource selection.

44. The computer system of claim 43, wherein the indicator is controlled by a computer mouse, and wherein the resource integration mechanism is responsive to a mouse button up event.

45. A computer system for interacting with a non-native data object and a native data object, the non-native data object having server application code for interacting with the non-native data object, the computer system comprising:

a container object that contains the non-native data object and contains the native data object, the eontainer object having container application code with a container window environment for interacting with the container object and the native data object;

an indicator for choosing an object;

an operating system for starting execution of the container application code and the server application code as separate executable entities, each separate executable entity being a process or a thread;

a window system that displays the container window environment, that displays the native data object integrated within the displayed container window environment, and that displays file non-native data object integrated within the displayed container window environment such that, from the perspective of a user, initiating interaction with the non-native data object is substantially similar to initiating interaction with the nativc data object even though the native data object and the non-native data object are managed by two separately executing application code entities;

an input event generating and handling mechtanism, that in response to moving the indicator over the displayed native data object, generates a first input event and sends notification of the first input event directly to the separately executing container application code; and

an input event generating and handling mechanism, that in response to moving the indicator over the displayed non-native data object generates a second input event and sends notification of the second input event directly to the separately executing server application code.

46. The computer system of claim 45, wherein the server application code has user interface resources for interacting with the non-native data object, the system further including a resource integration mechanism, that in response to indicating an action to perform on the containee object, integrates the user interface resources of the server application code, into the displayed container window environment such that when a user selects a user interface resource from amongst the integrated user interface resources, the separately executing server application code processes the user interface resource selection.

47. A method in a computer system of activating a containee object contained within a container object, the container object having a container application with a container window environment, the container window environment having container resources for interacting with the container object, the containee object having a server application with server resources for interacting with the containee object, the method comprising the steps of:

executing the container application as a separate executable entity of an operating system;

under control of the container application,

displaying the container window environment;

displaying the containee object integrated within the displayed container window environment;

selecting the containee object; and

in response to selecting the containee object, executing the server application as a separate executable entity of the operating system;

under control of the separately executing server application,

indicating the server resources to the container application;

under control of the container application,

integrating the indicated server resources within the displayed container window environment; and

in response to selection of a server resource front the integrated server resources, sending to the separately executing server application all indication that the server resource is selected; and

under control of the server application, performing a behavior associated with the selected server resource.

48. A method in a computer system of activating a containee object contained witfin a container object, the computer system having an operating system for scheduling and executing code, the container object having container application code implemented as a separately schedulable and executable application program and having a container window environment with container resources, the containee object having associated server application code implemented as a loadable code module which is loadable into a memory address space of a separately schedulable and executable application program, the server application code having server resources for interacting with the containee object, the containee object having a class identifier for identifying tile server application code, the method comprising the computer implemented steps of:

executing the container application code as a separately scheduled program with a memory address space;

displaying the container window enviromnent;

displaying the containee object integrated within the displayed container window enviromnent;

selecting the containee object;

in response to selection of the containee object,

determining the class identifier of the containee object;

based upon the determined class identifier, determining from a persistent registry the associated server application code;

loading the determined server application code into the memory address space of the container application code;

under control of the loaded server application code, determining a plurality of server resources; and

integrating and displaying the plurality of the server resources of the loaded server application code into the container resources of the displayed container window environment, without the container application code knowing what server resources are being integrated and displayed; and

in response to selection of a scarer resource from among the integrated and displayed server resources, executing the server application code to process the server resource selection.