Metadata-driven automatic UI code generation
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented system that facilitates a settings user interface, comprising:
- a plurality of user interface elements;
stored metadata that describes instances of the plurality of user interface elements and associated interactions;
a code generation component for automatically generating, by a processor, code for the settings user interface based, at least in part, upon the stored metadata and the plurality of user interface elements, the code to be compiled once generated, wherein the generated code validates data according to a set of validation rules defined in the stored metadata and when a validation rule is violated an error code is raised;
an error handling module for receiving the error code and translating the error code to a user-friendly error message according to the stored metadata, and for setting focus on a section of the settings user interface to enable an operator to correct the error; and
a data source component for receiving the code generated by the code generation component and for interacting with a data source to store configuration data for the settings user interface, wherein code for the data source component is generated from the metadata.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A framework for using metadata to describe user interface elements and for interactions of the user interface elements with an end user and/or with data source(s) that store configuration data. The metadata can be used to generate a settings UI and code that manages the UI such as gathering user input, handling UI events, validating collected data, handling errors and warnings, managing interactions between different UI controls, and the like. A computer-implemented system that facilitates a settings user interface can include a code generation component that employs the stored metadata to automatically generate the settings UI and code that manages the UI. The code generation component provides the generated code to a data source component that interacts with the data source(s). The settings UI is displayed to an end user via a user interface component.
25 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented system that facilitates a settings user interface, comprising:
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a plurality of user interface elements; stored metadata that describes instances of the plurality of user interface elements and associated interactions; a code generation component for automatically generating, by a processor, code for the settings user interface based, at least in part, upon the stored metadata and the plurality of user interface elements, the code to be compiled once generated, wherein the generated code validates data according to a set of validation rules defined in the stored metadata and when a validation rule is violated an error code is raised; an error handling module for receiving the error code and translating the error code to a user-friendly error message according to the stored metadata, and for setting focus on a section of the settings user interface to enable an operator to correct the error; and a data source component for receiving the code generated by the code generation component and for interacting with a data source to store configuration data for the settings user interface, wherein code for the data source component is generated from the metadata. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer-implemented system for facilitating a settings user interface, comprising:
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a user interface controls driver for managing a user interface control; a data stores driver for interacting with a data source; a data source component for interacting with the data source to store configuration data for the settings user interface, wherein code for the data source component is generated from stored metadata that describes instances of the plurality of user interface elements and associated interactions; a data exchange module for populating the user interface control with data stored in the data source received from the data stores driver; a data validation module for validating, by a processor, data associated with the user interface control, the data received from an end user, the data validated according to a set of validation rules defined in stored metadata, and for raising an error code when the data validation module determines that the data received from the end user is incorrect; and
,an error handling module for processing the error code, the error handling module employing code automatically generated based on the stored metadata and a plurality of user interface elements, the code to be compiled once generated, the error code to be translated to a user-friendly error message according to the stored metadata, and for setting focus on a section of the settings user interface to enable an operator to correct the error. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer-implemented method of generating a settings user interface, comprising:
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receiving metadata that describes user interface elements; automatically generating a first set of code for the settings user interface based on the user elements and received metadata, the first set of code to be compiled once generated; generating a second set of code from the metadata for a data source component for receiving the first set of code and for interacting with a data source to store configuration data for the settings user interface; executing the generated code to display the settings user interface, wherein the generated code validates data according to a set of validation rules defined in the received metadata; raising an error code when a validation rule is violated; translating the error code to a user-friendly error message according to the received metadata; and setting focus on a section of the settings user interface to enable an operator to correct the error. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification