Mutable application experience and user interface

• US 7,950,027 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2007
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Young, Mark, Arnquist, Michael, Clement, Sam
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho; Andy
• Application Number:
  US11/818,755
• Publication Number:
  US 20080313650A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,439 Days
• Field of Search: 719/331, 709/217, 709/218, 707/602, 715/201
• US Class Current: 719/331
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A dynamic and interchangeable set of application behaviors is implemented upon the same underlying software engine. Downloadable data provider behavior descriptors configure the UI generation application dynamically on demand to meet needs that are unknown at ship time, or otherwise cannot be predicted in advance—inputs, formats, contents, and the optimal user interface or experience, all change over time. A data provider supplies the data source locations, data feeds, poll/pull intervals on feeds, parameter definitions, data binding definitions, lists, groups, UI templates, data transformation logic, resources, and UI templates to plug into the base application engine, which transforms the supplied data to create a UI experience tailored to match the appropriate events and available data over time. The base application engine is agnostic to both the data provider and the input data received.

Claims

1. A system for dynamically presenting data in a mutable presentation format, the system comprising

a processor for executing computer-executable modules;

and

memory storing computer-executable modules including;

a data transformation module that is governed by an updatable transform instruction package, wherein the data transformation module transforms data associated with one or more data providers according to instructions in the instruction package into a bindable format;

a binding engine module that binds the transformed data to management objects and exposes the data-bound management objects for incorporation of the transformed data into a user interface; and

a user interface generation module that links the data-bound management objects with updatable user interface elements based upon instructions received from the data providers in the transform instruction package to form a mutable user interface incorporating the transformed data.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a network monitor module that receives updated data over a network from the one or more data providers and provides the updated data to the data transformation module.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising

a network monitor module that receives updated user interface elements over a network from a network source;

and

a dynamic user interface element library that stores the user interface elements for access by the user interface generation module.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the binding engine module instantiates additional management objects in response to types of transformed data provided by the data transformation module.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data-bound management objects in the binding engine module seek and bind with additional data related to the transformed data provided by the data transformation module.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data-bound management objects instantiate additional management objects to seek and bind with additional data in response to types of transformed data initially bound with the data-bound management objects.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein

the management objects update bindings with updated transformed data in response to provision of updated transformed data from the data transformation module;

and

the user interface generation module updates links between the data-bound management objects and the user interface templates in real time to provide a revised mutable user interface.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein

the binding engine module identifies a list of data providers associated with the transformed data as a source of the data and groups together data-bound management objects having a common data provider source;

and

the user interface generation element links only a single group of the data-bound management objects with the user interface elements.

9. A method in a computer system for dynamically constructing a user interface incorporating data received in real time, the method comprising

binding data received in real time to management objects;

exposing the data-bound management objects for incorporation of the data from the data-bound objects into user interface elements;

selecting user interface elements from an updatable library based upon one or more of;

types of data received, identification of a data provider, and instructions from the data provider;

accessing a set of instructions for linking the data-bound management objects to the selected user interface elements;

incorporating the data from the data-bound management objects into the selected user interface elements as the data is received;

presenting the selected user interface elements incorporating the data; and

dynamically updating the presentation of the selected user interface elements incorporating the data in response to one or more of;

receiving updated data, receiving updated instructions, and updating user interface elements.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising

receiving the data in a first form,

receiving transformation instructions,

transforming the data from the first form into a second form capable of binding with the associable management objects.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising

grouping the data-bound management objects in groups corresponding to data received from a common data provider;

and

exposing only data-bound management objects having data corresponding to a selected data provider.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising seeking additional related data to bind with the management objects according to operations defined within the management objects.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising instantiating additional management objects to seeking additional related data to bind with the additional management objects according to operations defined within the data-bound management objects.

14. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a computer process implementing the method of claim 9.

15. A method in a computer system for implementing a mutable user interface, the method comprising

selecting a set of user interface elements from an updatable library based upon one or more of:

types of data to be presented, identification of a data provider, and instructions from the data provider;

linking the selected set of user interface elements with data exposed for incorporation into the user interface;

presenting the selected set of user interface elements incorporating the data;

updating the selection of the set of user interface elements based upon exposure of updated data;

linking the updated set of user interface elements with corresponding updated data for incorporation into the user interface; and

presenting the updated set of user interface elements incorporating the updated data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the updating operation further comprises selecting alternate user interface elements based upon one or more of:

types of updated data to be presented and revised instructions from the data provider.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the updating operation further comprises selecting revised user interface elements based upon one or more of:

types of updated data to be presented and revised instructions from the data provider.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the updating operation further comprises selecting additional user interface elements based upon one or more of:

types of updated data to be presented and revised instructions from the data provider.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising one or more of:

incorporating less than a total amount of the data exposed for incorporation into the user interface into the selected set of user interface elements; and

incorporating less than a total amount of the updated data exposed for incorporation into the user interface into the updated set of user interface elements.

20. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a computer process implementing the method of claim 15.