Automatic generation of programs with GUI controls for interactively setting or viewing values

• US 7,376,904 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2000
• Issued: 05/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Cifra, Chris, Kellam, Jeff, Correll, Jeff, Vazquez, Nicolas, Caltagirone, Christophe, Schultz, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu; Tadesse
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pillai; Namitha
• Application Number:
  US09/726,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20040221238A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,729 Days
• Field of Search: 700/83, 345/853, 345/704, 345/743, 345/751, 345/763, 707/8, 717/105, 717/109, 715/771, 715/763, 715/762, 715/965, 715/967
• US Class Current: 715/763
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23008 Computer aided software engineering, program generation, case tools, CASE
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23258 GUI graphical user interface, icon, function bloc editor, labview
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40099 Graphical user interface for robotics, visual robot user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/965 for process control and configuration
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/967 Visual or iconic programming

Abstract

A system and method for automatically (i.e., programmatically) generating a computer program based on program information, such as a prototype, wherein the program includes a graphical user interface (GUI) for specifying input values to or viewing output values from the program. The prototype may comprise a series of functional operations. One or more input and/or output parameters may be associated with each functional operation. In response to a user'"'"'s request for a program implementing the prototype to be automatically generated, a list of parameters associated with the operations included in the prototype may be displayed. The user may select from the displayed list the input parameters which are desired to be interactively changeable. In response, the program may be generated such that the program has a graphical user interface including a user interface control associated with each selected input parameter.

Claims

1. A method for generating a computer program, the method comprising:

receiving user input to a prototyping application, wherein the user input specifies a prototype, wherein the prototype comprises a series of functional operations, wherein the functional operations include a first functional operation with one or more associated parameters;

automatically generating a program that implements the prototype, in response to the specified prototype, wherein the program is operable to execute independently of the prototyping application;

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the program;

wherein said automatically generating the graphical user interface comprises automatically creating one or more graphical user interface elements associated with the one or more parameters of the first functional operation, wherein during execution of the program, at least one of the one or more graphical user interface elements is displayed and is operable to receive user input independently of the prototyping application.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating source code for the program without direct user input specifying the source code.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first functional operation has an associated input parameter;

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a graphical user interface element for interactively receiving user input specifying a value for the input parameter.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first functional operation has an associated output parameter;

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a graphical user interface element for viewing program output indicating a value for the output parameter.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the first functional operation comprises a plurality of parameters, the method further comprising:

receiving user input to the prototyping application specifying which of the plurality of parameters are desired to have associated graphical user interface elements;

wherein said automatically generating the graphical user interface comprises automatically creating a graphical user interface element associated with each specified parameter of the first functional operation, but not creating graphical user interface elements associated with unspecified parameters of the first functional operation.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the automatically generated program comprises a text-based program;

wherein automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating source code for the program in a text-based programming language.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein the automatically generated program comprises a graphical program;

wherein automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating graphical source code for the graphical program, wherein the graphical source code includes a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program.

8. The method of claim 1,

wherein the prototyping application interfaces with a programming environment application in order to perform said generating the program.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first functional operation has a first parameter that has an associated data type, the method further comprising:

determining the data type of the first parameter;

wherein automatically creating the one or more graphical user interface elements comprises automatically creating a first graphical user interface element associated with the first parameter, wherein the first graphical user interface element is operable to receive user input according to the data type of the first parameter.

10. The method of claim 1,

wherein the prototype specifies an image processing algorithm;

wherein the automatically generated program implements the image processing algorithm.

11. The method of claim 10,

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a first graphical user interface element for receiving user input specifying a value for an input parameter of the first functional operation, wherein the value for the input parameter affects the image processing algorithm.

12. The method of claim 10,

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a first graphical user interface element for viewing an output value for an output parameter of the first functional operation, wherein the output value is determined by the image processing algorithm.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically generating the program comprises:

automatically generating a block diagram, wherein the block diagram comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the program.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said generating the graphical user interface comprises:

automatically generating a user interface panel, wherein the user interface panel comprises the one or more graphical user interface elements.

15. The method of claim 1,

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating source code to perform the functional operations of the prototype;

wherein the source code is automatically generated in a format that allows a user to edit the automatically generated source code.

16. The method of claim 1,

wherein the functional operations also include a second functional operation with one or more associated parameters;

wherein said automatically generating the graphical user interface further comprises automatically creating one or more graphical user interface elements associated with the one or more parameters of the second functional operation.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the automatically generated program, wherein said executing the automatically generated program comprises displaying the automatically generated graphical user interface independently of the prototyping application.

18. The method of claim 1,

wherein the automatically generated program is operable to perform the functional operations of the prototype.

19. A system for generating a computer program, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the processor to implement;

a prototyping environment application for receiving user input specifying a prototype, wherein the prototype comprises a series of functional operations, wherein at least one of the operations has an associated one or more parameters;

wherein the prototyping environment application is operable to automatically generate a program that implements the prototype, in response to the specified prototype, wherein the program is operable to execute independently of the prototyping environment application;

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the program;

wherein said automatically generating the graphical user interface comprises automatically creating one or more graphical user interface elements associated with the one or more parameters, wherein during execution of the program, at least one of the one or more graphical user interface elements is displayed and is operable to receive user input independently of the prototyping environment application.

20. The system of claim 19,

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating source code for the program without direct user input specifying the source code.

21. The system of claim 19,

wherein at least one of the operations has an associated input parameter;

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a graphical user interface element for interactively receiving user input specifying a value for the input parameter.

22. The system of claim 19,

wherein at least one of the operations has an associated output parameter;

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a graphical user interface element for viewing program output indicating a value for the output parameter.

23. The system of claim 19,

wherein a plurality of parameters are associated with the functional operations;

wherein the prototyping environment application is operable to receive user input specifying which of the plurality of parameters are desired to have associated graphical user interface elements;

wherein said generating the graphical user interface comprises creating a graphical user interface element associated with each specified parameter, but not creating graphical user interface elements associated with unspecified parameters.

24. The system of claim 19,

wherein the automatically generated program comprises a text-based program;

wherein automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating source code for the program in a text-based programming language.

25. The system of claim 19,

wherein the automatically generated program comprises a graphical program;

wherein automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating graphical source code for the graphical program, wherein the graphical source code includes a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program.

26. The system of claim 19,

wherein the prototyping environment application interfaces with a programming environment application in order to perform said generating the program.

27. The system of claim 19,

wherein at least one parameter has an associated data type;

wherein the prototyping environment application is operable to determine the data type of the at least one parameter;

wherein creating a graphical user interface element associated with the at least one parameter comprises creating a graphical user interface element according to the data type of the at least one parameter.

28. The system of claim 19,

wherein the prototyping environment application is an image processing prototype environment application;

wherein the prototype specifies an image processing algorithm;

wherein the automatically generated program implements the image processing algorithm.

29. The system of claim 28,

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include one or more graphical user interface elements for receiving input parameter values affecting the image processing algorithm.

30. The system of claim 28,

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include one or more graphical user interface elements for viewing output parameter values determined by the image processing algorithm.

31. A memory medium comprising program instructions executable to:

receive user input to a prototyping application, wherein the user input specifies a prototype, wherein the prototype comprises a series of functional operations, wherein at least one of the operations has an associated one or more parameters;

automatically generate a program that implements the prototype, in response to the specified prototype, wherein the program is operable to execute independently of the prototyping application;

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the program;

wherein said automatically generating the graphical user interface comprises automatically creating one or more graphical user interface elements associated with the one or more parameters, wherein during execution of the program, at least one of the one or more graphical user interface elements is displayed and is operable to receive user input independently of the prototyping application.

32. The memory medium of claim 31,

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating source code for the program without direct user input specifying the source code.

33. The memory medium of claim 31,

wherein at least one of the operations has an associated input parameter;

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a graphical user interface element for interactively receiving user input specifying a value for the input parameter.

34. The memory medium of claim 31,

wherein at least one of the operations has an associated output parameter;

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include a graphical user interface element for viewing program output indicating a value for the output parameter.

35. The memory medium of claim 31, wherein a plurality of parameters are associated with the functional operations, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

receive user input to the prototyping application specifying which of the plurality of parameters are desired to have associated graphical user interface elements;

wherein said generating the graphical user interface comprises creating a graphical user interface element associated with each specified parameter, but not creating graphical user interface elements associated with unspecified parameters.

36. The memory medium of claim 31,

wherein the automatically generated program comprises a text-based program;

wherein automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating source code for the program in a text-based programming language.

37. The memory medium of claim 31,

wherein the automatically generated program comprises a graphical program;

wherein automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating graphical source code for the graphical program, wherein the graphical source code includes a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program.

38. The memory medium of claim 31,

wherein the prototyping application interfaces with a programming environment application in order to perform said automatically generating the program.

39. The memory medium of claim 31, wherein at least one parameter has an associated data type, wherein the program instructions are further executable to determine the data type of the at least one parameter;

wherein creating a graphical user interface element associated with the at least one parameter comprises creating a graphical user interface element according to the data type of the at least one parameter.

40. The memory medium of claim 31,

wherein the prototype specifies an image processing algorithm;

wherein the automatically generated program implements the image processing algorithm.

41. The memory medium of claim 40,

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include one or more graphical user interface elements for receiving input parameter values affecting the image processing algorithm.

42. The memory medium of claim 40,

wherein the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements include one or more graphical user interface elements for viewing output parameter values determined by the image processing algorithm.

43. A computer-implemented method for automatically generating a computer program, the method comprising:

receiving program information to a first application, wherein the program information specifies functionality of the computer program;

automatically generating the computer program in response to the program information, wherein the computer program implements the specified functionality, wherein the program is operable to execute independently of the first application;

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the program;

wherein said automatically generating the graphical user interface comprises automatically creating one or more graphical user interface elements for providing input to and/or viewing output from the program, wherein during execution of the program, the one or more graphical user interface elements are displayed and at least one of the one or more graphical user interface elements is operable to receive user input independently of the first application.

44. The method of claim 43,

wherein said automatically generating the computer program comprises automatically generating source code for the program without direct user input specifying the source code.

45. The method of claim 43,

wherein each of the one or more automatically created graphical user interface elements corresponds to one or more parameters specified by the program information.

46. The method of claim 43,

wherein the generated computer program comprises a graphical program,

wherein automatically generating the computer program comprises automatically generating a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program.

47. The method of claim 43,

wherein the received program information specifies one of:

a prototype;

a test executive sequence; and

a state diagram.

48. A method for generating a computer program, the method comprising:

receiving user input specifying a prototype, wherein the prototype comprises a series of functional operations, wherein at least one of the operations has an associated one or more parameters;

in response to said receiving user input specifying the prototype, automatically generating a graphical program, wherein automatically generating the graphical program comprises automatically generating a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program, wherein the plurality of interconnected nodes are operable to perform the series of functional operations;

wherein said automatically generating the graphical program comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the graphical program, wherein the graphical user interface for the graphical program comprises at least one graphical user interface element which is associated with at least one of the one or more parameters;

wherein the graphical program is interpretable or compilable;

wherein said receiving user input specifying the prototype is performed by a development environment;

wherein the graphical program comprises second program instructions;

wherein execution of the second program instructions is independent of execution of the development environment.

49. A method for generating a computer program, the method comprising:

receiving user input specifying a prototype, wherein the prototype comprises a series of functional operations, wherein at least one of the operations has an associated one or more parameters;

in response to said receiving user input specifying the prototype, automatically generating a graphical program, wherein automatically generating the graphical program comprises automatically generating a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program, wherein said automatically generating the graphical program further comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the graphical program; and

associating at least one of the one or more parameters with an element of the graphical user interface;

wherein said receiving user input specifying the prototype is performed by first program instructions;

wherein the graphical program comprises second program instructions;

wherein execution of the second program instructions is independent of execution of the first program instructions.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

receiving user input indicating the at least one of the one or more parameters;

wherein said associating the at least one of the one or more parameters with the element of the graphical user interface is based on said receiving user input indicating the at least one of the one or more parameters.

51. A method for generating a computer program, the method comprising:

displaying a prototyping environment user interface on a display of a computer system, wherein the prototyping environment user interface is usable to create a prototype;

receiving user input specifying the prototype, wherein the prototype comprises a series of functional operations, wherein at least one of the operations has an associated one or more parameters; and

automatically generating a program that implements the prototype, in response to the specified prototype;

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the program;

wherein the graphical user interface of the program comprises at least one graphical user interface element which is associated with at least one of the associated one or more parameters, wherein the at least one graphical user interface element performs at least one of receiving information to the program and outputting information from the program during execution of the program, wherein the graphical user interface of the program is independent of the prototyping environment user interface.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the program is interpretable or compilable.

53. A method for generating a computer program, the method comprising:

receiving user input to a development environment, wherein the user input specifies a series of functional operations, wherein at least one of the operations has an associated one or more parameters; and

automatically generating a program that implements the series of functional operations, in response to the user input, wherein program execution of the program is independent of execution of the development environment;

wherein said automatically generating the program comprises automatically generating a graphical user interface for the program;

wherein the graphical user interface of the program comprises at least one graphical user interface element which is associated with at least one of the associated one or more parameters, wherein the at least one graphical user interface element performs one or more of receiving information through the graphical user interface and outputting information from through the graphical user interface during execution of the program;

wherein the program is interpretable or compilable.