Explicitly defining user interface through class definition

• US 7,721,219 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2004
• Issued: 05/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Lin, Andrew Cheng-min, Harsh, Michael R., Calvert, Simon, Pepin, Brian K., Kothari, Nikhil, Ellie, Julien Jacques Nicolas
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore; William L
• Assistant Examiner(s): TANK, ANDREW L
• Application Number:
  US10/909,512
• Publication Number:
  US 20060041877A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,115 Days
• Field of Search: 715762-763, 715/143, 715/234, 715/236, 715/239, 715/746, 715/760, 717/143
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods that provide automatic generation of user interfaces via creation of a class-based model. A system is provided that facilitates generating a user interface. The system includes a class component to generally define properties and methods associated with one or more interface actions. A service component parses the class to automatically generate all or a portion of a user interface from the interface actions. Push and Pull-type models can be provided to facilitate merging of actions from various classes such as provided by third parties or from existing component developments.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates generating a user interface, comprising the following components stored in computer storage media:

a class component that defines properties and methods associated with one or more user interface actions;

a designer action object model that includes an action list, wherein the action list is an abstract base class from which various portions of user interface code can inherit, the action list being configured to specify interface actions or events in a generalized manner for appearance on a user interface, the action list further including properties and commands associated with the specified interface actions that change dynamically over time based on a state of at least one object, as well as one or more transitory components that are provided in the action list only until a particular task related to the action list has been achieved, the designer action object model being configured to perform the following;

merging a plurality of action lists from one or more different sources into a single action list for use by the class component and associating one or more action lists with the class component; and

a service component that determines which actions or interface options appear within the user interface and parses the class to automatically generate at least a portion of a user interface from the interface actions based at least in part upon the state of the at least one ether object, a development environment or an execution environment.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a component to order and filter a set of user interface actions defined in an action list.

3. The system of claim 2, the order and filter component includes an abstract method or an interface method to provide an ordered set of actions.

4. The system of claim 3, at least one of the abstract or the interface methods declare one or more interface components and the properties describe a user interface type editor.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a push or a pull model to distribute the action lists.

6. The system of claim 1, the state of the at least one object is transmitted through object metadata.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein interface components are automatically added or removed from an interface based upon the state.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more action lists specify a panel attached to a control'"'"'s selection user interface wherein the control is comprised within the user interface.

9. The system of claim 8, the panel provides tasks to at least one of bring up a modal user interface, operate directly on a component or allow a selection on the component.

10. The system of claim 9, the interface is associated with a wizard, a tool tip, a helper command, or a status bar.

11. The system of claim 9, the user interface further comprising at least one of forms, controls, components, display objects, audio, video, or text strings.

12. The system of claim 9, the user interface is associated with at least one of a web application, an XML application, a development tool, a mail application, a calendar application, a graphics application, and a text application.

13. The system of claim 1, the interface actions are supplied by a third party developer.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a designer component that enables users to add, align, position, view, manage, or manipulate forms and controls.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising at least one of a designer command, a designer verb, a designer action, and a designer short cut, a designer action list, and a designer verb list.

16. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon for implementing the following components comprising at least:

an abstract class component that defines properties and methods associated with one or more interface actions, wherein one or more action lists comprised within the abstract class component are edited by a developer and parsed to determine which actions or events appear on a user interface derived from the class component, and wherein the class component is associated with a designer action object model that at least one of specifies a list of properties and commands that includes an action list, wherein the action list is an abstract base class from which various portions of user interface code can inherit, the action list being configured to specify interface actions or events in a generalized manner for appearance on a user interface, the action list further including properties and commands associated with the specified interface actions that change dynamically over time based on a state of at least one object, as well as one or more transitory components that are provided in the action list only until a particular task related to the action list has been achieved, the designer action object model being configured to perform the following;

merging a plurality of action lists from one or more different sources into a single action list for use by the class component and associating one or more action lists with the class component;

a service component that overrides the abstract class component to provide a model for at least a portion of a user interface; and

a generating component for automatically generating at least a portion of the interface from the interface actions based at least in part upon the state of the at least one object.

17. A system that facilitates generation of a user interface, comprising the following means executed by a processor:

means for defining abstract class parameters representative of methods and properties of an interface, which class parameters are edited by a developer;

means for specifying a list of properties and commands, wherein the means for specifying includes a designer action object model that includes an action list, wherein the action list is an abstract base class from which various portions of user interface code can inherit, the action list being configured to specify interface actions or events in a generalized manner for appearance on a user interface, the action list further including properties and commands associated with the specified interface actions that change dynamically over time based on a state of at least one object, as well as one or more transitory components that are provided in the action list only until a particular task related to the action list has been achieved, the designer action object model being configured to perform the following;

merging a plurality of action lists from one or more different sources into a single action list for use by the class component and associating one or more action lists with the class component;

means for identifying a property or a command to be used at a specific time in the user interface from the list of properties and commands;

means for parsing the class parameters; and

means for automatically generating at least a portion of the interface based in part on the abstract class parameters.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for pushing or pulling the class parameters into the interface.

19. A method that facilitates automatic generation of a user interface, comprising:

defining properties and methods associated with one or more user interface actions;

providing a designer action object model that includes an action list, wherein the action list is an abstract base class from which various portions of user interface code can inherit, the action list being configured to specify interface actions or events in a generalized manner for appearance on a user interface, the action list further including properties and commands associated with the specified interface actions that change dynamically over time based on a state of at least one object, as well as one or more transitory components that are provided in the action list only until a particular task related to the action list has been achieved, the designer action object model being configured to perform the following;

merging a plurality of action lists from one or more different sources into a single action list for use by the class component and associating one or more action lists with the class component; and

determining which actions or interface options appear within the user interface and parses the class to automatically generate at least a portion of a user interface from the interface actions based at least in part upon the state of the at least one object, a development environment or an execution environment.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising automatically exposing or removing an interface option based at least in part on the state of an object associated with the interface components.

21. A computer readable storage medium having a data structure stored thereon, comprising:

a class component to store properties and methods relating to an user interface, wherein the class component is associated with a designer action object model that includes an action list, wherein the action list is an abstract base class from which various portions of user interface code can inherit, the action list being configured to specify interface actions or events in a generalized manner for appearance on a user interface, the action list further including properties and commands associated with the specified interface actions that change dynamically over time based on a state of at least one object, as well as one or more transitory components that are provided in the action list only until a particular task related to the action list has been achieved, the designer action object model being configured to perform the following;

merging a plurality of action lists from one or more different sources into a single action list for use by the class component and associating one or more action lists with the class component;

the one or more action lists comprised within the class component that are edited by a developer and are parsed to determine which actions or events appear on the user interface derived from the class component;

a first field defining at least one interface component associated with the methods;

a second field defining at least one editor component associated with the properties; and

a generating component for automatically generating at least a portion of the interface from the interface actions based at least in part upon the state of the at least one object.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21, further comprising a field to define one or more actions of a user interface.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, the actions are associated with at least one of a designer action item, a designer action property item, a designer action method item, a designer action text item, a designer action verb item, and a designer action header item.