Customizable drag and drop for industrial software applications
First Claim
1. An apparatus to select and activate user defined or project specific functions via an extensible drag and drop operation, comprising:
- a user interface in which objects of a particular module are displayed graphically and selected graphically; and
an extensible drag and drop in which a user drags a selected source object and drops it to a target object and which adds application and user specific functions including an extended function to be applied to the source object and to the target object upon drop, wherein the extended function defines a relationship between a target and a source object, wherein the user specific function to be activated upon drop is selected graphically via a menu which pops up upon dropping of the object.wherein the extended function establishes a communication protocol between the source and target.
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Abstract
Customizable Drag & Drop enables easy activation of user defined or project specific functions concerning two related objects: A user interface graphically displays objects of a particular module. An extending function extends the drag and drop operation to allow the user to define a new set of semantics that is applied when a drag and drop operation is executed. In this way communication can be established using Customizable Drag & Drop extended by a user defined function. Also definition and modification of the deployment of an industrial automation system and hyperlinking of objects in manufacturing execution systems is achieved by Customizable Drag & Drop.
78 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An apparatus to select and activate user defined or project specific functions via an extensible drag and drop operation, comprising:
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a user interface in which objects of a particular module are displayed graphically and selected graphically; and an extensible drag and drop in which a user drags a selected source object and drops it to a target object and which adds application and user specific functions including an extended function to be applied to the source object and to the target object upon drop, wherein the extended function defines a relationship between a target and a source object, wherein the user specific function to be activated upon drop is selected graphically via a menu which pops up upon dropping of the object. wherein the extended function establishes a communication protocol between the source and target. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of establishing communication using an extended graphical user interface function comprising the steps of:
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selecting a source object in said extended graphical user interface; dragging said selected source object within said extended graphical user interface, dropping said selected source object to a target object within said extended graphical user interface to cause application and user specific functions including an extended function to be applied to the source object and to the target object upon drop;
wherein upon dropping of said selected source object to said target object within said extended graphical user interface, a pop-up menu is displayed showing at least one extended functionality; andselecting a function from said pop-up menu, wherein the extended functionality defines a relationship between a target and a source object; wherein the relationship establishes a communication protocol between the source and target. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification