Binding a GUI element to live measurement data

• US 7,703,032 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2005
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Wells, Elton
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh; Ba
• Application Number:
  US11/079,363
• Publication Number:
  US 20050228608A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,863 Days
• Field of Search: 715/762, 715/763, 715/771, 702/68, 702/121, 703 13- 28
• US Class Current: 715/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

A system and method for binding a GUI element to a data source of live measurement data are described. A data source component may be included in a program and may be configured with a binding to a data source of live measurement data in response to user input. A GUI element may also be included in the program, and the binding configured for the data source component may be associated with the GUI element in response to user input. Associating the binding with the GUI element may effectively bind the GUI element to the data source of live measurement data and may enable the GUI element to automatically display the live measurement data from the data source during execution of the program. A system and method for binding a GUI element in a program to a data target for live measurement data are also described. A GUI element may be included in a program, and the GUI element may be configured to display live measurement data during execution of the program. A data target component may also be included in the program and may be configured with a binding to a data target in response to user input. The binding configured for the data target component may then be associated with the GUI element in response to user input. Associating the binding with the GUI element may enable the program to automatically send the live measurement data displayed by the GUI element to the data target during execution of the program.

Claims

1. A memory medium storing program instructions executable to:

include a first component in a program in response to user input;

configure the first component with a plurality of concurrent bindings to a plurality of data sources of live measurement data in response to user input, wherein each binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings enables the first component to receive respective live measurement data from a respective data source of the plurality of data sources, wherein the plurality of concurrent bindings includes a first binding to a first data source of first live measurement data;

include a first GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first component is separate from the first GUI element;

display a graphical user interface indicating the plurality of concurrent bindings with which the first component is configured; and

associate the first binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings with the first GUI element in response to user input to the displayed graphical user interface selecting the first binding from the plurality of concurrent bindings;

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element enables the first GUI element to display the first live measurement data from the first data source during execution of the program.

2. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element enables the first GUI element to automatically display the first live measurement data from the first data source without requiring a user to add source code to the program to implement said displaying the first live measurement data.

3. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first live measurement data comprises measurement data generated by a measurement device.

4. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first live measurement data comprises measurement data representing a physical phenomenon.

5. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first live measurement data comprises streaming data.

6. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first live measurement data is generated by a measurement device that acquires measurement data from a physical system in real time.

7. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first GUI element displaying the first live measurement data comprises the first GUI element dynamically graphing the first live measurement data from the first data source.

8. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said first GUI element displaying the first live measurement data from the first data source comprises the first GUI element continuously receiving and displaying the first live measurement data from the first data source.

9. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said configuring the first component with the plurality of bindings to the plurality of data sources comprises configuring the first component with a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs), wherein each URL of the plurality of URLs references a respective data source of the plurality of data sources of live measurement data.

10. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first binding to the first data source of first live measurement data comprises a binding to a data source of a DataSocket server;

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element enables the first GUI element to display the first live measurement data received from the DataSocket server.

11. The memory medium of claim 10,

wherein configuring the first component with the first binding to the first data source comprises receiving user input specifying a uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the URL references the data source of the DataSocket server.

12. The memory medium of claim 10,

wherein the first live measurement data originates from a client connected to the DataSocket server.

13. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said including the first component in the program in response to user input comprises dragging and dropping the first component into a window associated with the program in response to user input.

14. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said configuring the first component with the plurality of bindings to the plurality of data sources of live measurement data comprises receiving user input to a property panel associated with the first component, wherein the user input specifies the plurality of data sources of live measurement data.

15. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said including the first GUI element in the program in response to user input comprises dragging and dropping the first GUI element into a window associated with the program in response to user input.

16. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the graphical user interface indicating the plurality of bindings with which the first component is configured comprises displaying the plurality of bindings in a property panel of the first GUI element;

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element comprises receiving user input to the property panel of the first GUI element to select the first binding from the plurality of bindings.

17. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first GUI element comprises a Windows Forms control;

wherein said displaying the graphical user interface indicating the plurality of bindings with which the first component is configured comprises displaying the plurality of bindings in a property panel of the first Windows Forms control;

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element comprises receiving user input to the property panel of the Windows Forms control to select the first binding from the plurality of bindings.

18. The memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the plurality of bindings also includes a second binding to a second data source of second live measurement data;

wherein the program instructions are further executable to;

include a second GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first component is separate from the second GUI element; and

associate the second binding of the plurality of bindings with the second GUI element in response to user input selecting the second binding from the plurality of bindings;

wherein said associating the second binding with the second GUI element enables the second GUI element to display the second live measurement data from the second data source during execution of the program.

19. A memory medium storing program instructions executable to:

include a first component in a program in response to user input;

configure the first component with a plurality of concurrent bindings to a plurality of data sources of live measurement data in response to user input, wherein each binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings enables the first component to receive respective live measurement data from a respective data source of the plurality of data sources, wherein the plurality of concurrent bindings includes a first binding to a DataSocket server;

include a first GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first component is separate from the first GUI element;

display a graphical user interface indicating the plurality of bindings with which the first component is configured; and

associate the first binding of the plurality of bindings with the first GUI element in response to user input to the displayed graphical user interface selecting the first binding from the plurality of concurrent bindings;

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element enables the first GUI element to display data from the DataSocket server during execution of the program.

20. The memory medium of claim 19,

wherein said configuring the first component with the first binding to the DataSocket server comprises configuring the first component with a binding to live measurement data from the DataSocket server;

wherein said displaying the data from the DataSocket server during execution of the program comprises displaying the live measurement data.

21. The memory medium of claim 19,

wherein the plurality of bindings also includes a second binding to the DataSocket server;

wherein the program instructions are further executable to;

include a second GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first component is separate from the second GUI element; and

associate the second binding of the plurality of bindings with the second GUI element in response to user input selecting the second binding from the plurality of bindings;

wherein said associating the second binding with the second GUI element enables the second GUI element to display data from the DataSocket server during execution of the program.

22. A memory medium storing program instructions executable to:

include a first component in a program in response to user input;

configure the first component with a plurality of concurrent bindings to a plurality of data sources of live measurement data in response to user input, wherein each binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings enables the first component to receive respective live measurement data from a respective data source of the plurality of data sources, wherein the plurality of concurrent bindings includes a first binding to a first data source of first live measurement data;

include a Windows Forms control in the program in response to user input, wherein the Windows Forms control is separate from the first component;

display a property panel of the Windows Forms control, wherein the property panel indicates the plurality of concurrent bindings with which the first component is configured; and

associate the first binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings with the Windows Forms control in response to user input to the displayed property panel selecting the first binding from the plurality of concurrent bindings;

wherein said associating the first binding with the Windows Forms control enables the Windows Forms control to display the first live measurement data from the first data source during execution of the program.

23. The memory medium of claim 22,

wherein the Windows Forms control is a first Windows Forms control;

wherein the plurality of bindings also includes a second binding to a second data source of second live measurement data;

wherein the program instructions are further executable to;

include a second Windows Forms control in the program in response to user input, wherein the second Windows Forms control is separate from the first component; and

display a property panel of the second Windows Forms control, wherein the property panel of the second Windows Forms control indicates the plurality of bindings with which the first component is configured; and

associate the second binding of the plurality of bindings with the second Windows Forms control in response to user input to the displayed property panel of the second Windows Forms control selecting the first binding from the plurality of bindings;

wherein said associating the second binding with the second Windows Forms control enables the second Windows Forms control to display the second live measurement data from the second data source during execution of the program.

24. A method comprising:

using one or more computing devices to implement;

including a first component in a program in response to user input;

configuring the first component with a plurality of concurrent bindings to a plurality of data sources of live measurement data in response to user input, wherein each binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings enables the first component to receive respective live measurement data from a respective data source of the plurality of data sources, wherein the plurality of concurrent bindings includes a first binding to a first data source of first live measurement data;

including a first GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first GUI element is separate from the first component;

displaying a graphical user interface indicating the plurality of concurrent bindings with which the first component is configured; and

associating the first binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings with the first GUI element in response to user input to the displayed graphical user interface selecting the first binding from the plurality of concurrent bindings;

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element enables the first GUI element to display the first live measurement data from the first data source during execution of the program.

25. The method of claim 24,

wherein the plurality of bindings also includes a second binding to a second data source of second live measurement data;

wherein the method further comprises;

including a second GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first component is separate from the second GUI element; and

associating the second binding of the plurality of bindings with the second GUI element in response to user input selecting the second binding from the plurality of bindings;

wherein said associating the second binding with the second GUI element enables the second GUI element to display the second live measurement data from the second data source during execution of the program.

26. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing program instructions;

wherein the program instructions are executable by the one or more processors to implement;

including a first component in a program in response to user input;

configuring the first component with a plurality of concurrent bindings to a plurality of data sources of live measurement data in response to user input, wherein each binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings enables the first component to receive respective live measurement data from a respective data source of the plurality of data sources, wherein the plurality of concurrent bindings includes a first binding to a first data source of first live measurement data;

including a first GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first GUI element is separate from the first component;

displaying a graphical user interface indicating the plurality of concurrent bindings with which the first component is configured; and

associating the first binding of the plurality of concurrent bindings with the first GUI element in response to user input to the displayed graphical user interface selecting the first binding from the plurality of concurrent bindings;

wherein said associating the first binding with the first GUI element enables the first GUI element to display the first live measurement data from the first data source during execution of the program.

27. The system of claim 26,

wherein the plurality of bindings also includes a second binding to a second data source of second live measurement data;

wherein the program instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to implement;

including a second GUI element in the program in response to user input, wherein the first component is separate from the second GUI element; and

associating the second binding of the plurality of bindings with the second GUI element in response to user input selecting the second binding from the plurality of bindings;

wherein said associating the second binding with the second GUI element enables the second GUI element to display the second live measurement data from the second data source during execution of the program.