Intermediate user-interface definition method and system

• US 6,448,981 B1
• Filed: 12/09/1997
• Issued: 09/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kaczmarski, Michael Allen
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US08/987,589
• Time in Patent Office: 1,736 Days
• Field of Search: 345/335, 345/333, 345/334, 345/331, 345/332, 345/346, 345/341-342, 345/356-357, 345/339, 345/744-747, 345/762, 345/763, 345/802, 345/769, 345/826, 345/825, 345/779, 345/790, 345/853-855, 707/10, 709/230-231
• US Class Current: 715/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

A user-interface system and method that includes object-oriented user-interface definitions. User-interface definitions for objects of an application program are created using an interface definition language. An application programming interface provides access to the user-interface definitions. For each user-interface request, the application programming interface is used to obtain the user-interface definition for the referenced object. Responsive to the user-interface definition of the object, user-interface data is dynamically generated by an interface driver. By separating user-interface definitions from the interface driver, modifications to an application program and the corresponding user-interface definitions do not require enhancements to the interface driver.

Claims

1. A computer-based user-interface method for operation of a computer application program, comprising:

generating a user-interface request from a user-interface program to retrieve object definitions of an application program;

displaying objects of the application program in response to the user-interface request and associated user-authority, the objects including operation objects and data objects that are manipulated by a user to control the operation of the application program;

receiving a request from the user-interface program that references a defined object manipulated by the user;

reading user-interface definitions of the defined object;

generating user-interface data in response to retrieved user-interface definitions; and

submitting a command to the application program in response to the request that references a defined operation object, wherein the results generated by the application program in response to the command are displayed by the user-interface program.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating user-interface data to solicit a value for a parameter in response to a request that references a defined operation object;

receiving a request that Includes a value for the parameter;

generating a command with the value for the parameter; and

submitting the command with the value for the parameter to the application program.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing updated user-interface definitions for objects of the application program;

after storing the updated user-interface definitions,

receiving a request that references a defined object of the application program;

retrieving updated user-interface definitions for the defined object;

generating updated user-interface data in response to the updated user-interface definitions; and

submitting a command to the application program in response to the updated user-interface definitions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-interface definitions include definitions of groups, classes, operations, and parameters, a group definition including one or more classes, a class definition including one or more object instances of data objects of the application program, an operation definition including an association with a class, and a parameter definition including an association with an operation.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein an operation definition further includes an association with the one or more object instances of data objects of the application program.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein a group definition includes one or more groups.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein an operation further includes an authority level indicative of users having authorization to initiate the operation, and further comprising the step of omitting from the user-interface data an operation for which a user that submitted a request does not possess a requisite authority level.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein a group definition includes a graphical image.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein a class definition includes a graphical image.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein an operation definition includes a graphical image.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein a group definition includes a first graphical image, a class definition includes a second graphical image, and an operation definition includes a third graphical image.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating user-interface data in response to requests for operation objects and associated user-interface definition data, the user-interface data soliciting for input parameter data; and

submitting to the application program the input parameter data along with the commands.

13. A user-interface apparatus for operation of a computer application program, comprising:

means for generating a user-interface request from a user-interface program to retrieve object definitions of an application program;

means for displaying objects of the application program in response to the user-interface request and associated user-authority, the objects including operation objects and data objects that are manipulated by a user to control the operation of the application program;

means for receiving a request from the user-interface program that references a defined object manipulated by the user;

means for reading user-interface definitions of the defined object;

means for generating user-interface data in response to retrieved user-interface definitions; and

means for submitting a command to the application program in response to a request that references a defined operation object, wherein the results generated by the application program in response to the command are displayed by the user-interface program.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for generating user-interface data to solicit a value for a parameter in response to a request that references a defined operation object;

means for receiving a request that includes a value for the parameter;

means for generating a command with the values for the parameters; and

means for submitting the command with the value for the parameter to the computer application program.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for storing updated user-interface definitions for the defined objects of the application program;

means for receiving a request that references a defined object of the application program after storing the updated user-interface definitions;

means for retrieving updated user-interface definitions for the defined object after storing the updated user-interface definitions;

means for generating updated user-interface data in response to the updated user-interface definitions after storing the updated user-interface definitions; and

means for submitting a command to the application program in response to the updated user-interface definitions after storing the updated user-interface definitions.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the user-interface definitions include definitions of groups, classes, operations, and parameters, a group definition including one or more classes, a class definition Including one or more object instances of data objects of the application program, an operation definition including an association with a class, and a parameter definition including an association with an operation.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein an operation further includes an authority level indicative of users having authorization to initiate the operation, and further comprising means for omitting from the user-interface data an operation for which a user that submitted a request does not possess a requisite authority level.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for generating user-interface data in response to requests for operation objects and associated user-interface definition data, the user-interface data soliciting for input parameter date; and

means for submitting to the application program the input parameter data along with the commands.

19. An article of manufacture for a computer-based user-interface, the article of manufacture comprising a computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

generating a user-interface request from a user-interface program to retrieve object definitions of an application program;

displaying objects of the application program in response to the user interface request and associated user authority, the objects including operation objects and data objects that are manipulated by a user to control the operation of the application program;

receiving a request from the user interface program that references a defined object manipulated by the user;

reading user-interface definitions of the defined object;

generating user-interface data in response to retrieved user-interface definitions; and

submitting a command to the application program in response to a request that references a defined operation object, wherein the results generated by the application program in response to the command are displayed by the user interface program.

20. The article of claim 19, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to perform:

generating user-interface data to solicit a value for a parameter in response to a request that references a defined operation object;

receiving a request that includes a value for the parameter;

generating a command with the value for the parameter; and

submitting the command with the value for the parameter to the application program.

21. The article of claim 19, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to perform:

storing updated user-interface definitions for objects of the application program;

after storing the updated user-interface definitions,

receiving a request that references a defined object of the application program;

retrieving updated user-interface definitions for the defined object;

generating updated user-interface data in response to the updated user-interface definitions; and

submitting a command to the application program in response to the updated user-interface definitions.

22. The article of claim 19, wherein the user-interface definitions Include definitions of groups, classes, operations, and parameters, a group definition including one or more classes, a class definition including one or more object instances of data objects of the application program, an operation definition including an association with a class, and a parameter definition including an association with an operation.

23. The article of claim 22, wherein an operation further includes an authority level indicative of users having authorization to initiate the operation, and the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to perform the step of omitting from the user-interface data an operation for which a user that submitted a request does not possess a requisite authority level.

24. The article of claim 19, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to perform the steps of:

generating user-interface data in response to requests for operation objects and associated user-interface definition data, the user-interface data soliciting for input parameter data; and

submitting to the application program the input parameter data along with the commands.

25. A user-interface method for an application program hosted by a data processing system, comprising the steps of:

generating a user-interface request from a user-interface program to retrieve definitions of an application program;

defining hierarchical classes of data elements of the application program with user-interface definitions, predetermined ones of the classes referencing object instances of data elements;

defining groups of classes with user-interface group definitions;

defining operations with operation definitions, wherein selected operations are associated with selected classes and object instances;

in response to a user-interface request,

reading a class definition and an associated operation definition for the user-interface request that references a class;

reading a group definition for the user-interface request that references a group;

reading an operation definition for the user-interface request that references an operation; and

generating user-interface responsive to the definitions retrieved from the reading steps, wherein the user-interface data is displayed by the user-interface program upon verification of user authority.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the operation definitions include authority levels indicative of users having authorization to initiate operations specified by the operation definitions, and further comprising the step of omitting from the user-interface data operations for which a user that submitted a request does not possess a requisite authority level.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of mapping a selected one of the classes to a database table and to a database column.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of generating selectable user-interface data responsive to definitions from the reading steps.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of generating selectable user-interface data indicative of classes that comprise the group.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of generating selectable user-interface data indicative of another group that comprises the group.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of generating selectable user-interface data indicative of object instances that comprise the class.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of generating selectable user-interface data indicative of another class that comprises the class.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of generating selectable user-interface data indicative of an operation associated with the class.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising the steps of:

in response to a user-interface request that references an object instance of a class, reading a class definition and an associated operation definition; and

generating selectable user-interface data indicative of an operation associated with object instances in the class.

35. The method of claim 25, further comprising the steps of:

reading a parameter definition associated with an operation for a request that references the operation; and

generating user-interface data that solicits a parameter value in response to the parameter definition.

36. The method of claim 25, further comprising the steps of:

defining associations of graphical objects to groups;

defining associations of graphical objects to classes;

generating user-interface data that includes the graphical objects for references to the groups and classes.

37. A user-interface apparatus for an application program hosted by a data processing system, comprising:

means for generating a user-interface request from a user-interface program to retrieve definitions of an application program;

means for defining hierarchical classes of data elements of the application program with interface class definitions, predetermined ones of the classes referencing instances of data elements;

means for defining groups of classes with interface group definitions;

means for defining operations with operation definitions, wherein selected operations are associated with selected classes and instances;

in response to the user-interface request,

means for reading a class definition and an associated operation definition for the user-interface request that references a class;

means for reading a group definition for the user-interface request that references a group;

means for reading an operation definition for the user-interface request that references an operation; and

means for generating user-interface data responsive to definitions retrieved from the means for reading, wherein the user-interface data is displayed by the user-interface program upon verification of user authority.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the operation definitions Include authority levels indicative of users having authorization to initiate operations specified by the operation definitions, and further comprising means for omitting from the user-interface data operations for which a user that submitted a request does not possess a requisite authority level.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising means for mapping a selected one of the classes to a database table and to a database column.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising means for generating selectable user-interface data responsive to definitions from the reading steps.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising:

means for reading a parameter definition associated with an operation for a request that references the operation; and

means for generating user-interface data that solicits a parameter value in response to the parameter definition.

42. An article of manufacture for a computer-based user-interface, the article of manufacture comprising a computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

generating a user-interface request from a user-interface program to retrieve definitions of an application program;

defining hierarchical classes of data elements of the application program with interface class definitions, predetermined ones of the classes referencing instances of data elements;

defining groups of classes with interface group definitions;

defining operations with operation definitions, wherein selected operations are associated with selected classes and instances;

in response to a user-interface request,

reading a class definition and an associated operation definition for the user-interface request that references a class;

reading a group definition for the user-interface request that references a group;

reading an operation definition for the user-interface request that references an operation; and

generating user-interface data responsive to definitions retrieved from the reading steps, wherein the user-interface data is displayed by the user-interface program upon verification of user authority.

43. The article of claim 42, wherein the operation definitions include authority levels Indicative of users having authorization to initiate operations specified by the operation definitions, and the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to perform the step of omitting from the user-interface data operations for which a user that submitted a request does not possess a requisite authority level.

44. The article of claim 42, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises Instructions for causing a computer to perform the step of mapping a selected one of the classes to a database table and to a database column.

45. The article of claim 42, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to perform the step of generating selectable user-interface data responsive to definitions from the reading steps.

46. The article of claim 42, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to perform the steps of:

reading a parameter definition associated with an operation for a request that references the operation; and

generating user-interface data that solicits a parameter value In response to the parameter definition.

47. A user-interface system for use with a computer application program and a client user-interface program, comprising:

a client user-interface program operative to provide a user-interface request for definitions;

a user-interface definition file having definitions of groups, classes, operations, and parameters, a group definition including one or more classes, a class definition including one or more object instances of data elements of the application program, an operation definition including an association with a class, and a parameter definition including an association with an operation;

a user-interface definition driver coupled to the user-interface definition file, and configured and arranged to, in response to the user-interface request for definitions, read definitions from the user-interface definition file and provide the definitions as output; and

a user-interface driver coupled to the user-interface definition driver and configured and arranged to receive the user-interface request for definitions, query the user-interface definition driver for user-interface definitions, and generate user-interface data having a format that is compatible with the client user-interface program and content that is responsive to the user-interface definitions, wherein the user-interface data is displayed by the user-interface program upon verification of user authority.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the operation definitions include authority levels indicative of users having authorization to initiate operations specified by the operation definitions, and the user-interface driver is arranged to omit from the user-interface data operations for which a user that submitted a request does not possess a requisite authority level.

49. The system of claim 47, wherein the user-interface definition file includes a mapping of a class to a database table and to a database column.

50. The system of claim 47, wherein the user-interface driver is configured and arranged to read a parameter definition associated with an operation for a request that references the operation and generate user-interface data that solicits a parameter value in response to the parameter definition.