Systems and methods for teaching a person to interact with a computer program having a graphical user interface
First Claim
1. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for teaching a person how to perform a task in a computer program with at least one graphical user interface object that performs a desired action in response to user input, the method comprising:
- formulating a script, by reference to an entity map, that comprises step-by-step instructions indicating to a user of the computer program how to perform the task, wherein the entity map contains programming instructions for accessing at least one graphical user interface object of the computer program, wherein formulating the script comprises recording performance of steps of the task; and
executing the script by;
displaying at least one partial graphical overlay directly on top of an actual, non-simulated graphical user interface of the computer program, each partial graphical overlay visually indicating input to be provided to an associated graphical user interface object to cause the computer program to perform one of the steps of the task; and
positioning the partial graphical overlay adjacent to the associated graphical user interface object regardless of a position of the graphical user interface object without any modification to source code of the computer program, wherein executing the script comprises a separate computing process from the computer program that interacts only with the graphical user interface object and an operating system on which the computer program is running.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for teaching a person how to perform a task within a computer program with at least one graphical user interface object. A script is formulated that contains step-by-step instructions indicating to a person how to perform a task within a computer program through interacting with at least one graphical user interface object of the computer program. The script is formulated by reference to an entity map, which contains programming instructions for accessing at least one graphical user interface object of the program to perform a step of the task. The script is executed by displaying a partial graphical overlay on top of an actual, non-simulated graphical user interface of the program. Each graphical user overlay instructs a user how to provide pertinent user input to graphical user interface objects of the computer program. The partial graphical overlay is positioned adjacent to the pertinent graphical user interface object of the program regardless of the position of that object without any reprogramming of the underlying computer program.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for teaching a person how to perform a task in a computer program with at least one graphical user interface object that performs a desired action in response to user input, the method comprising:
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formulating a script, by reference to an entity map, that comprises step-by-step instructions indicating to a user of the computer program how to perform the task, wherein the entity map contains programming instructions for accessing at least one graphical user interface object of the computer program, wherein formulating the script comprises recording performance of steps of the task; and executing the script by; displaying at least one partial graphical overlay directly on top of an actual, non-simulated graphical user interface of the computer program, each partial graphical overlay visually indicating input to be provided to an associated graphical user interface object to cause the computer program to perform one of the steps of the task; and positioning the partial graphical overlay adjacent to the associated graphical user interface object regardless of a position of the graphical user interface object without any modification to source code of the computer program, wherein executing the script comprises a separate computing process from the computer program that interacts only with the graphical user interface object and an operating system on which the computer program is running. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for teaching a person how to perform a task in a computer program with at least one graphical user interface object that performs a desired action in response to user input, the method comprising:
formulating a script, by reference to an entity map, that comprises step-by-step instructions indicating to a user of the computer program how to perform the task, wherein the entity map contains programming instructions for accessing at least one graphical user interface object of the computer program, wherein the script is formulated by recording performance of steps of the task; and wherein the script comprises a separate computing process from the computer program that interacts only with the graphical user interface object and an operating system on which the computer program is running and further comprises programming instructions configured to; display at least one partial graphical overlay directly on top of an actual, non-simulated simulated graphical user interface of the computer program, each partial graphical overlay visually indicating input to be provided to an associated graphical user interface object to cause the computer program to perform one of the steps of the task; and position the partial graphical overlay adjacent to the associated graphical user interface object regardless of a position of the graphical user interface object without any modification to source code of the computer program. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer system for teaching a person how to perform a task in a computer program with at least one graphical user interface object that performs a desired action in response to user input, the system comprising:
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a processor; memory in communication with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory comprising; an entity map containing programming instructions for accessing at least one graphical user interface object of the computer program; a script formulation component that references the entity map and generates a script of step-by-step instructions indicating to a user of a computer program how to perform the task within the computer program; and a recording component, wherein the script formulation component formulates the script by recording performance of steps of the task while the recording component is active; and a script execution component that executes the script and comprises; a display component that displays at least one partial graphical overlay directly on top of an actual, non-simulated graphical user interface of the computer program, each partial graphical overlay visually indicating input to be provided to an associated graphical user interface object to cause the computer program to perform one of the steps of the task; and a position component that positions the partial graphical overlay adjacent to the associated graphical user interface object regardless of a position of the graphical user interface object without any modification to source code of the computer program, wherein the script execution component comprises a separate computing process from the computer program that interacts only with the graphical user interface object and an operating system on which the computer program is running. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for teaching a person how to perform a task in a computer program with at least one graphical user interface object that performs a desired action in response to user input, the method comprising:
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formulating a script, by reference to an entity map, that comprises step-by-step instructions indicating to a user of the computer program how to perform the task, wherein the entity map contains programming instructions for accessing at least one graphical user interface object of the computer program, wherein formulating the script comprises recording performance of steps of the task; and executing the script by; displaying at least one partial graphical overlay directly on top of an actual, non-simulated graphical user interface of the computer program, each partial graphical overlay visually indicating input to be provided to an associated graphical user interface object to cause the computer program to perform one of the steps of the task; and positioning the partial graphical overlay adjacent to the associated graphical user interface object regardless of a position of the graphical user interface object without any modification to source code of the computer program_wherein executing the script comprises a separate computing process from the computer program that interacts only with the graphical user interface object and an operating system on which the computer program is running. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification