Expanded stack view

• US 7,930,648 B1
• Filed: 10/10/2006
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Jaramillo, Narciso B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pitaro; Ryan F
• Application Number:
  US11/546,002
• Time in Patent Office: 1,652 Days
• Field of Search: 715790-794
• US Class Current: 715/790
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/75 Structural analysis for program understanding

Abstract

A feature for visibly distinguishing multiple containers within an application being edited in an ADE is described. When the user selects to activate the container expansion, the ADE identifies an active target container in the application and then analyzes a container hierarchy based on the target container. The ADE visually represents the container hierarchy in a graphical overlay superimposed on top of the application. The visual representation includes a container proxy for each of the containers within the hierarchy. The container proxies are drawn in a manner to visibly distinguish each of the proxies to the developer even though the actual containers are not distinguishable in the application. The overlay of container proxies are superimposed onto the application in a design view of the ADE and the developer may make changes to the underlying application by interacting with the overlay.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

displaying, in an application development environment, a plurality of containers of an application under development;

identifying a target container in the application based on a selection action received using the application development environment;

after receiving the selection action, analyzing a position of the target container in a container hierarchy of said application; and

visually representing said container hierarchy in a graphical overlay superimposed on top of said application as displayed in the application development environment, wherein said graphical overlay visually distinguishes the target container by displaying a plurality of container proxies, the proxies corresponding to containers in the container hierarchy and including a target proxy corresponding to the target container.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a signal to insert an object into the target proxy;

responsive to said receiving, inserting said object into said target container; and

updating said container hierarchy and said graphical overlay.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a signal to modify a child proxy corresponding to a child member of said container hierarchy;

responsive to said receiving, modifying the container corresponding to the child proxy; and

updating said container hierarchy and said graphical overlay.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the child proxy comprises an immediate child member of said container hierarchy.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting selection of another proxy container from said container proxies, wherein said another proxy container does not correspond to said target container;

responsive to said detecting, visually modifying said container proxies to indicate selection of said another proxy container;

identifying a new target container in said application, wherein said new target container corresponds to said another proxy container; and

analyzing a new container hierarchy based on said new target container; and

updating said graphical overlay to reflect said new container hierarchy.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

animating said updating said graphical overlay, wherein each update to said graphical overlay is smoothly transitioned from a starting point of said update to an end point of said update.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said detecting selection comprises one of:

detecting a mouse click within an exposed area of said another proxy container;

detecting a cursor hovering over said exposed area for a predetermined length of time;

or

detecting selection of a hot key while said cursor is located over said exposed area.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a signal to modify contents of the target proxy;

responsive to said receiving, modifying said contents in said target container according to said signal; and

updating said container hierarchy and said graphical overlay to reflect said modified contents.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said visually representing includes:

rendering the target proxy with greater translucency than others of said container proxies; and

inserting padding in one or more ancestor proxies, wherein said one or more ancestor proxies correspond to one or more ancestor members of said container hierarchy, and wherein said padding visually separates each of said one or more ancestor proxies from one another and from said target proxy.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

inserting a label on each of said container proxies, wherein said label identifies one or more of;

a type of container corresponding to said each of said container proxies;

or

an ID associated with said container corresponding to said each of said container proxies.

11. A method comprising:

identifying a target container in an application interface;

determining one or more ancestor containers of said target container;

rendering a target container proxy in an overlay superimposed on top of said application interface in a design view of an application development environment (ADE), wherein said target container proxy corresponds to said target container;

rendering one or more ancestor container proxies in said overlay corresponding to said one or more ancestor containers, wherein said one or more ancestor container proxies are rendered to be visually separated from each other and visually distinct from said target container proxy; and

rendering one or more child container proxies corresponding to one or more child containers located within said target container, wherein said one or more child container proxies are rendered to be visually distinct from said target container proxy.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said one or more child container proxies correspond to one or more immediate child containers located within said target container.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving a signal to modify contents of a target container proxy;

responsive to said receiving, modifying said contents in said target container according to said signal; and

updating said graphical overlay to reflect said modified contents.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

detecting selection of a new target proxy from one of;

one of said one or more ancestor container proxies; and

one of said one or more child container proxies;

responsive to said detecting, visually modifying said overlay to indicate selection of said new target proxy;

identifying a new target container in said application, wherein said new target container corresponds to said new target proxy; and

updating said graphical overlay to reflect said one or more ancestor containers and said one or more child containers related to said new target proxy.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

animating each update to said graphical overlay to reflect a smooth transition between a beginning point to an updated point.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein said detecting selection comprises one of:

detecting a mouse click within an exposed area of said new target proxy;

detecting a cursor hovering over said exposed area for a predetermined length of time;

or

detecting selection of a hot key while said cursor is located over said exposed area.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein said overlay is superimposed on said application in response to one or more of:

detecting activation of a selection indicator;

detecting a drag operation; and

detecting selection of a hot key during said drag operation.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

inserting a label on each of said target proxy container, said one or more ancestor container proxies, and said one or more child containers, wherein each said label identifies one or more of;

a type of container; and

an ID associated with each corresponding one of said target proxy container, said one or more ancestor container proxies, and said one or more child containers.

19. A computing system comprising a processor and memory, the memory embodying program components that configure the computing system to:

display an interface of an application under development in a design view, the interface comprising a plurality of containers in a hierarchy, the interface including at least one container nested within an ancestor container;

determine a selection action identifying a target container in the plurality of containers; and

in response to the selection action, display an overlay on the interface as displayed in the design view, the overlay comprising a plurality of container proxies comprising a target container proxy,

wherein the target container proxy is displayed within an ancestor container proxy in the overlay, and

wherein the target container proxy is displayed with a higher translucency than the ancestor container proxy.

20. The system set forth in claim 19, wherein the computing system is further configured to add padding between the target container proxy and the ancestor container proxy in the overlay, the padding between the target container proxy and the ancestor container proxy greater than padding (if any) between the target container and the ancestor container in the interface.

21. The system set forth in claim 19, wherein the computing system is further configured to:

determine a second selection action identifying a second target container; and

in response, display a new overlay comprising an ancestor container proxy and a target container proxy, the target container proxy of the new overlay corresponding to the second target container,

wherein the new overlay is displayed independently of any change in the display of the containers in the interface.

22. The system set forth in claim 19, wherein the selection action comprises at least one of hovering over a container, a command to display an overlay, or hovering over a container proxy in a previously-generated overlay.

23. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium embodying program code, the program code comprising:

program code for displaying, in an application development environment, a plurality of containers of an application under development;

program code for identifying a target container in the application based on a selection action received using the application development environment;

program code for analyzing a position of the target container in a container hierarchy of said application after receiving the selection action; and

program code for visually representing said container hierarchy in a graphical overlay superimposed on top of said application as displayed in the application development environment, wherein said graphical overlay visually distinguishes the target container by displaying a plurality of container proxies, the proxies corresponding to containers in the container hierarchy and including a target proxy corresponding to the target container.

24. The computer program product set forth in claim 23, further comprising:

program code for receiving a signal to insert an object into the target proxy;

program code, responsive to said receiving, for inserting said object into said target container; and

program code for updating said container hierarchy and said graphical overlay.

25. The computer program product set forth in claim 23, further comprising:

program code for receiving a signal to modify a child proxy corresponding to a child member of said container hierarchy;

program code, responsive to said receiving, for modifying the container corresponding to the child proxy; and

program code for updating said container hierarchy and said graphical overlay.

26. The computer program product set forth in claim 25, wherein the child proxy comprises an immediate child member of said container hierarchy.

27. The computer program product set forth in claim 23, further comprising:

program code for detecting selection of another proxy container from said container proxies, wherein said another proxy container does not correspond to said target container;

program code, responsive to said detecting, for visually modifying said container proxies to indicate selection of said another proxy container;

program code for identifying a new target container in said application, wherein said new target container corresponds to said another proxy container;

program code for analyzing a new container hierarchy based on said new target container; and

program code for updating said graphical overlay to reflect said new container hierarchy.

28. The computer program product set forth in claim 27, further comprising:

program code for animating said updating said graphical overlay, wherein each update to said graphical overlay is smoothly transitioned from a starting point of said update to an end point of said update.

29. The computer program product set forth in claim 27, wherein said detecting selection comprises one of:

detecting a mouse click within an exposed area of said another proxy container;

detecting a cursor hovering over said exposed area for a predetermined length of time;

or

detecting selection of a hot key while said cursor is located over said exposed area.

30. The computer program product set forth in claim 23, further comprising:

program code for receiving a signal to modify contents of the target proxy;

program code, responsive to said receiving, for modifying said contents in said target container according to said signal; and

program code for updating said container hierarchy and said graphical overlay to reflect said modified contents.

31. The computer program product set forth in claim 23, wherein said visually representing includes:

rendering the target proxy with greater translucency than others of said container proxies; and

inserting padding in one or more ancestor proxies, wherein said one or more ancestor proxies correspond to one or more ancestor members of said container hierarchy, and wherein said padding visually separates each of said one or more ancestor proxies from one another and from said target proxy.

32. The computer program product set forth in claim 23, further comprising:

program code for inserting a label on each of said container proxies, wherein said label identifies one or more of;

a type of container corresponding to said each of said container proxies;

or

an ID associated with said container corresponding to said each of said container proxies.