Dynamic generation of compliant style sheets from non-compliant style sheets

• US 7,770,106 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2006
• Issued: 08/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Waldman, Chad Garrett, Hagel-Sorensen, Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Stephen S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yang; I-Chan
• Application Number:
  US11/384,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20070220480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,600 Days
• Field of Search: 715/235, 715/236, 715/234, 715/239
• US Class Current: 715/235
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/151 Transformation

Abstract

The claimed method and system provides programmers of client-server applications the ability to implement extensions to a standard style sheet language by using a preprocessor at a client to first parse, extract, and transform noncompliant, proprietary code. A new standards compliant style sheet may be created based on the transformed noncompliant code. This style sheet may then be executed on a client browser. The claimed system may be used to conform a client application schema with a client operating system schema.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of dynamically generating cascading style sheets for a client application, comprising:

providing a first style sheet containing a noncompliant function to a standard style sheet language according to W3C cascading style sheet specification;

retrieving the first style sheet at a client from a server;

extracting from the first style sheet the noncompliant function;

executing the noncompliant function at the client to produce a function output wherein the noncompliant function transforms a noncompliant color value according to W3C cascading style sheet specification that is operating system specific into a standard style sheet language compliant color value according to W3C cascading style sheet specification;

generating a second style sheet based on the first style sheet and the function output, wherein the second style sheet is compliant according to W3C cascading style sheet specification; and

executing the second style sheet on a standard style sheet language compliant browser according to W3C cascading style sheet specification at the client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a second style sheet comprises replacing the noncompliant function in the first style sheet with the function output.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the noncompliant function provides a parameter of a cascading style sheet (CSS) compliant function.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the noncompliant function comprises looking up a registry value in a client operating system registry to produce an output.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a change to the registry value dynamically changes the second style sheet.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the noncompliant function blends a first and a second color value to produce a third color value compliant with a standard style sheet language function according to W3C cascading style sheet specification.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the noncompliant function is executed based on a client operating system function.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the noncompliant function comprises executing the noncompliant function via a client executable.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the noncompliant function comprises executing the noncompliant function by one of a browser applet, a browser extension, and a browser plugin.

10. A computer system comprising:

a processor being physically configured to execute a browser application being compliant with a standard style sheet language according to W3C cascading style sheet specification;

a client computer comprising a processor being physically configured for receiving a first style sheet, containing noncompliant computer executable code to the standard style sheet language according to W3C cascading style sheet specification, from a server for display on the browser; and

a preprocessor component intercepting the first style sheet before executing the first style sheet in the browser, extracting the noncompliant computer executable code wherein the noncompliant computer executable code transforms a noncompliant color value according to W3C cascading style sheet specification that is operating system specific into a standard style sheet language compliant color value according to W3C cascading style sheet specification and generating a second style sheet compliant with the standard style sheet language according to W3C cascading style sheet specification.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the browser forms a portion of an application of the client computer.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the preprocessor is coded as a portion of the browser.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the preprocessor is one of a browser applet, a browser extension, and a browser plugin.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the preprocessor generates the second style sheet by executing the noncompliant computer executable code to produce an output compliant with a standard style sheet language according to W3C cascading style sheet specification and replacing the noncompliant computer executable code in the first style sheet with the compliant output.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the noncompliant code comprises an operating system specific value and wherein generating a second style sheet comprises obtaining a generic value for the operating system specific value from a registry and replacing the noncompliant code in the first style sheet with the generic value.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the noncompliant code comprises a computer executable function that accepts two color values and produces a third value that is compliant with a standard style sheet language function according to W3C cascading style sheet specification that is capable of only a single color parameter value.