Collecting scripts in a distributed scripting environment

• US 7,385,613 B1
• Filed: 12/31/2002
• Issued: 06/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Shukla, Kashmira V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brier; Jeffery A
• Application Number:
  US10/335,216
• Time in Patent Office: 1,988 Days
• Field of Search: 345/619, 345473-475, 707/101, 707/102, 707/104.1, 707/205, 707/206
• US Class Current: 345/619
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/00 Three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/61 Scene description

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implement techniques for collecting scripts associated with graphics objects in a hierarchical arrangement of objects. A plurality of scripts are identified by traversing a hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects in a distributed scripting environment. The hierarchical arrangement includes one or more objects having associated scripts. The identified scripts are collected in a data structure.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving a representation of a graphical composition, the representation of the graphical composition being a hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects in which at least one of the graphics objects includes another one of the graphics objects, the graphical composition comprising elements of text, images, graphics, or a combination thereof, each element represented by one of the graphics objects, where two or more of the graphics objects each have associated properties and behaviors and each can be animated by triggering changes in the associated properties and behaviors based on keyframes, events, or states, and each have one or more associated scripts, each script comprising instructions that can operate on the associated graphics object to animate the associated graphics object in the graphical composition, the scripts including a keyframe script associated with a specific frame in a timeline associated with the graphics object associated with the keyframe script;

traversing the hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects automatically in response to a request to collect scripts associated with the graphics objects in the hierarchical arrangement and, when each graphics object is visited in the traversal, automatically identifying one or more scripts and collecting the one or more identified scripts in a single data structure; and

using the single data structure containing all the collected scripts as an input to a graphic design tool.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

collecting the scripts includes ordering the scripts within the data structure.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the scripts each execute when triggered by a triggering condition; and

ordering the scripts includes grouping the scripts based on the triggering condition that triggers the execution of each respective script.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

ordering the scripts includes grouping the scripts based on the graphics object associated with each respective script.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

collecting the scripts includes writing the data structure to a text file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

collecting the scripts includes writing the data structure to an HTML file.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data structure includes a name identifying a file containing the hierarchical arrangement of objects.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each object in the hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects has a unique identifier; and

the data structure includes for each script the unique identifier for the graphics object associated with the respective script.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data structure includes a time-stamp associated with the script.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphic design tool operates on the scripts associated with the graphical objects in a graphical composition.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein first scripts associated with a first graphics object of the two or more graphics objects cannot be accessed at the same time as second scripts associated with a second graphics object of the two or more graphics objects, and each of the first scripts and the second scripts can only be collected while their respective associated graphics object is selected.

12. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a computer readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising instructions operable to cause data processing equipment to:

receive a representation of a graphical composition, the representation of the graphical composition being a hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects in which at least one of the graphics objects includes another one of the graphics objects, the graphical composition comprising elements of text, images, graphics, or a combination thereof, each element represented by one of the graphics objects, where two or more of the graphics objects each have associated properties and behaviors and each can be animated by triggering changes in the associated properties and behaviors based on keyframes, events, or states and each have one or more associated scripts each script comprising instructions that can operate on the associated graphics object to animate the associated graphics object in the graphical composition, the scripts including a keyframe script associated with a specific frame in a timeline associated with the graphics object associated with the keyframe script;

traverse the hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects automatically in response to a request to collect scripts associated with the graphics objects in the hierarchical arrangement and, when each graphics object is visited in the traversal, automatically identify one or more scripts and collect the one or more identified scripts in a single data structure; and

use the single data structure containing all the collected scripts as an input to a graphic design tool.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the instructions for

collecting the scripts cause the data processing equipment to:

collect the scripts by ordering the scripts within the data structure.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein:

the scripts each execute when triggered by a triggering condition; and

the instructions for ordering the scripts cause the data processing equipment to group the scripts based on the triggering condition that triggers the execution of each respective script.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the instructions for ordering the scripts cause the data processing equipment to:

group the scripts based on the graphics object associated with each respective script.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the instructions for collecting the scripts cause the data processing equipment to:

communicate the data structure by writing the data structure to a text file.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the instructions for collecting the scripts cause the data processing equipment to:

communicate the data structure by writing the data structure to an HTML file.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the data structure includes a name identifying a file containing the hierarchical arrangement of objects.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein:

each object in the hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects has a unique identifier; and

the data structure includes for each script the unique identifier for the graphics object associated with the respective script.

20. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the data structure includes a time-stamp associated with the script.

21. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein first scripts associated with a first graphics object of the two or more graphics objects cannot be accessed at the same time as second scripts associated with a second graphics object of the two or more graphics objects, and each of the first scripts and the second scripts can only be collected while their respective associated graphics object is selected.

22. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a representation of a graphical composition, the representation of the graphical composition being a hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects in which at least one of the graphics objects includes another one of the graphics objects, the graphical composition comprising elements of text, images, graphics, or a combination thereof, each element represented by one of the graphics objects, where two or more of the graphics objects each have associated properties and behaviors and each can be animated by triggering changes in the associated properties and behaviors based on keyframes, events, or states, and each have one or more associated scripts, each script comprising instructions that can operate on the associated graphics object to animate the associated graphics object in the graphical composition, the scripts including a keyframe script associated with a specific frame in a timeline associated with the graphics object associated with the keyframe script;

means for traversing the hierarchical arrangement of graphics objects automatically in response to a request to collect scripts associated with the graphics objects in the hierarchical arrangement and, when each graphics object is visited in the traversal, automatically identifying one or more scripts and collecting the one or more identified scripts in a single data structure; and

means for storing the one or more scripts associated with each identified graphics object in the single data structure.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

means for using the single data structure as an input to a graphic design tool.

24. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

means for receiving user input specifying one or more object types.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the identified graphics objects are identified as being of the one or more object types.

26. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

means for receiving user input specifying one or more triggering conditions; and

means for collecting only those scripts that execute when triggered by the one or more triggering conditions.

27. The system of claim 22, wherein the identified graphics objects are all the graphics objects in the hierarchical arrangement.