Building a view on markup language data through a set of components

• US 7,168,035 B1
• Filed: 06/11/2003
• Issued: 01/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Paoli, Jean D., Mollicone, Laurent, Catorcini, Alessandro, Begun, Andrew Paul, Jin, Jun, Bell, Joshua S., Raj, Willson Kulandai
• Primary Examiner(s): Herndon; Heather R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Botts; Michael K.
• Application Number:
  US10/459,179
• Time in Patent Office: 1,322 Days
• Field of Search: 715/513, 715/505, 715/506, 715/507, 715/789, 715/807, 717/513
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging

Abstract

A designer uses a forms designer application to build electronic forms from hierarchical data. Displays of hierarchical data, facilitation of selection of a portion of the hierarchical data, and displays of one or more suggested transformation-language components associated with a selected portion of hierarchical data are described. From the transformation-language components selected by a designer, generation of an electronic form is also described.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying a tree arrangement of hierarchical data having at least one node;

receiving input selecting an individual node; and

,

responsive to receiving input, generating a corresponding component suggestion menu that offers a plurality of components as options for representing the node, wherein the component suggestion menu presents individual components in a prioritized manner based upon at least two different sources, wherein a first source is based upon user selections in instances where the node was previously represented and a second source which compares components based upon how well an individual component'"'"'s data type satisfies the node.

2. A method comprising:

generating a hierarchical data display area having at least one node;

generating a form-designing area to be displayed concurrently with the hierarchical data display area;

receiving input selecting an individual node; and

,

responsive to receiving input regarding the individual node, suggesting individual components which represent a way to present the individual node on the form-designing area, wherein the suggesting comprises presenting the suggested components in a prioritized manner based at least in part upon user selections in instances where the node was previously represented.

3. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computing device, perform acts comprising:

displaying a tree arrangement of hierarchical data having at least one node;

receiving input selecting an individual node; and

,

responsive to receiving input, generating a corresponding component suggestion menu by comparing the tree arrangement and data types of the individual node and any sub-nodes under the individual node against available components, wherein the component suggestion menu presents individual components in a prioritized manner based upon at least two different sources, wherein the two different sources comprise a first source that is based upon user selections in instances where the node was previously represented and a second source which compares components based upon how well an individual component'"'"'s data type satisfies the node.

4. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computing device, perform acts comprising:

generating a hierarchical data display area having at least one node;

generating a form-designing area to be displayed concurrently with the hierarchical data display area;

receiving input selecting an individual node; and

,

responsive to receiving input regarding the individual node, suggesting individual components which represent a way to present the individual node on the form-designing area, wherein the suggesting presents the suggested components in a prioritized manner based upon how well an individual component'"'"'s data type satisfies the node.

5. An apparatus comprising:

means for displaying a tree arrangement of hierarchical data having at least one node;

means for receiving input selecting an individual node; and

,

means for generating, responsive to receiving input, a corresponding component suggestion menu by comparing the tree arrangement and data types of the individual node and any sub-nodes under the individual node against available components, wherein the component suggestion menu presents individual components in a prioritized manner based upon at least two different sources, wherein the two different sources comprise a first source that is based upon user selections in instances where the node was previously represented and a second source which compares components based upon how well an individual component'"'"'s data type satisfies the node.

6. An apparatus comprising:

means for generating a hierarchical data display area having at least one node;

means for generating a form-designing area to be displayed concurrently with the hierarchical data display area;

means for receiving input selecting an individual node; and

,

means for suggesting, responsive to receiving input selecting the individual node, individual components which represent a way to present the individual node on the form-designing area, wherein the suggesting comprises presenting the suggested components in a prioritized manner based at least in part upon user selections in instances where the node was previously represented takes into account the hierarchical data and data types of the individual node as well as previous user actions in the form designing area.