Container independent control architecture
First Claim
1. In a computer system having a computer display and a plurality of containers for storing controls, a method for creating the controls comprising the steps of:
- providing a container-independent control component having the container-independent functionality that is not particular to any container, for being displayed on the computer display and for accepting user input;
providing a plurality of extended controls having a container-dependent functionality that is particular to one of the plurality of containers;
providing a receive component for receiving requests to invoke the functionality of the extended control and the functionality of the container-independent control component;
for each of the plurality of containers, presenting both the container-independent control component in combination with the extended control having container-dependent functionality that is particular to that container such that that container is exposed to one set of functionality that includes the functionality of both the container-independent control component and that extended control and such that the container-independent control component can be combined with each of the extended controls to effect sharing of the container-independent functionality;
receiving a request by the receive component;
determining whether the request is to invoke the functionality of the extended control or the functionality of the container-independent control component;
when it is determined that the request is to invoke the functionality of the extended control, invoking the functionality of the extended control; and
when it is determined that the request is to invoke the functionality of the container-independent control component, invoking the functionality of the container-independent control component.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a control architecture that enables the sharing of controls between many containers. That is, the present invention provides for developing a control in such a manner that it may be used on dissimilar containers without modification. Thus, the control architecture of the present invention is a container independent control architecture that allows for the sharing of code. Since the container independent control architecture of the present invention provides for code sharing, the time required for developing controls and containers is reduced by the present invention. The present invention is utilized by splitting the functionality performed by a control into container dependent functionality and container independent functionality. After splitting the functionality, the present invention embodies the container independent functionality into a control and the container dependent functionality into an extended control. The present invention then combines the extended control and the control so as to appear as a single entity to the container.
-
Citations
39 Claims
-
1. In a computer system having a computer display and a plurality of containers for storing controls, a method for creating the controls comprising the steps of:
-
providing a container-independent control component having the container-independent functionality that is not particular to any container, for being displayed on the computer display and for accepting user input; providing a plurality of extended controls having a container-dependent functionality that is particular to one of the plurality of containers; providing a receive component for receiving requests to invoke the functionality of the extended control and the functionality of the container-independent control component; for each of the plurality of containers, presenting both the container-independent control component in combination with the extended control having container-dependent functionality that is particular to that container such that that container is exposed to one set of functionality that includes the functionality of both the container-independent control component and that extended control and such that the container-independent control component can be combined with each of the extended controls to effect sharing of the container-independent functionality; receiving a request by the receive component; determining whether the request is to invoke the functionality of the extended control or the functionality of the container-independent control component; when it is determined that the request is to invoke the functionality of the extended control, invoking the functionality of the extended control; and when it is determined that the request is to invoke the functionality of the container-independent control component, invoking the functionality of the container-independent control component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A data processing system, comprising:
-
a computer display for displaying information to a user; an input device for providing user input into the data processing system; a plurality of aggregate controls for displaying information on the computer display and for accepting user input, each aggregate control further comprising; a container-independent control for providing container independent functionality, wherein each aggregate control shares the control; an extended control for providing container dependent functionality, wherein each aggregate control has its own dependent control; and a component that receives requests to invoke functionality of the aggregate control, and that determines whether the request is to invoke functionality provided by the container-independent control or provided by the extended control and based on that determination invokes the functionality of the container-independent control or the extended control; and a plurality of containers for storing and presenting to a user an aggregate control having an extended control with functionality that is dependent on the container. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A computer-readable medium having instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method, the computer system having a computer display and a plurality of containers for storing controls, the controls having functionality comprising container-independent functionality and container-dependent functionality, the method for creating the controls comprising the steps of:
-
providing a container-independent control component having the container-independent functionality that is not particular to any container, for being displayed on the computer display and for accepting user input; providing an extended control for each of the plurality of containers, the extended control having the container-dependent functionality that is particular to the container; providing a receive component for receiving requests to invoke the functionality of the extended control and the functionality of the container-independent control component; presenting both the container-independent control component and an extended control as the control for a container such that the container in which the functionality of the extended control depends is exposed to one set of functionality that includes the functionality of both the container-independent control component and the extended control; receiving a request by the receive component; determining whether the request is to invoke the functionality of the extended control or the functionality of the container-independent control component; when it is determined that the request is to invoke the functionality of the extended control, invoking the functionality of the extended control; and when it is determined that the request is to invoke the functionality of the container-independent control component, invoking the functionality of the container-independent control component. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
Specification