Asynchronous handling of a user interface manipulation

• US 8,640,047 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2011
• Issued: 01/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Mouton, Laurent, Brun, Nicolas J., Luengen, Ross N., Zou, Song, Waggoner, Nicholas R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Augustine, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US13/150,762
• Publication Number:
  US 20120311488A1
• Time in Patent Office: 972 Days
• Field of Search: 715/798, 715/799, 715/800, 715/784, 715/786
• US Class Current: 715/786
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/045 Zooming at least part of an image, i.e. enlarging it or shrinking it
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/027 Arrangements and methods specific for the display of internet documents
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/346 for systems having a bit-mapped display memory

Abstract

This document describes techniques and apparatuses for asynchronous handling of a user interface manipulation. These techniques handle a user interface manipulation with two or more asynchronous processes. One asynchronous process, for example, may determine a position responsive to the user interface manipulation while another asynchronous process determines the pixels to render. By so doing, these techniques enable a quick and/or consistent response to a user interface manipulation.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receive, at a first entity operating asynchronous from a second entity, an input from a user interface (UI) manipulation of content, a first portion of the content presented in an application interface through which the UI manipulation is made, the input comprising a velocity of the UI manipulation;

determine, based on the input and bounds of the content, a position in the content at which a second portion of the content is associated, display of the second portion of the content in the application interface being responsive to the UI manipulation; and

provide the position to a third entity having access to pre-rendered content prepared by the second entity, the pre-rendered content including at least the second portion of the content effective to enable the third entity to display, based on the position, the second portion of the content in the application interface in response to the UI manipulation.

2. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein determine the position is further based on criteria additional to the input and the bounds, the criteria indicating that a potential position responsive to the input will overlap sub-portions of the content or overshoot the bounds of the content.

3. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 2, wherein the position causes the second portion of the content to not overlap sub-portions or overshoot the bounds of the content.

4. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein determine the position is further based on a size of a viewport in which the first portion of the content is displayed in the application interface.

5. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein determine the position is further based on responses supported by the second entity.

6. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 5, wherein the responses supported by the second entity include a pan, a zoom, a rotate, a transform, or a translation.

7. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein the input further includes an inertia of the UI manipulation, and wherein determining the position is further based on the inertia.

8. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein the position provided to the third entity includes a location in the content, a resolution change, or an orientation change.

9. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein the bounds of the content include a total size or resolution of the content that is capable of being displayed in a viewport of the application interface.

10. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, further comprising:

providing the position to the second entity prior to providing the position to third entity effective to enable the second entity to pre-render the pre-rendered content having at least the second portion of the content.

11. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, further comprising repeating the method for later inputs from the UI manipulation effective to provide multiple, real-time positions responsive to the respective later inputs.

12. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein the input is received at the first entity and from the second entity, the second entity requesting the position from the first entity by which the second entity pre-renders content based on the position.

13. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein the first entity and the second entity operating asynchronously includes operating within different respective CPU threads.

14. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 13, wherein the CPU thread in which the first entity operates is a dedicated user-manipulation thread not performing pre-rendering.

15. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein the second portion of the content is pre-rendered and accessible by the third entity prior to the UI manipulation being made.

16. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receive, at a first entity operating asynchronous from a second entity, an input from a user interface (UI) manipulation of content, a first portion of the content presented in an application interface in which the UI manipulation is made, the input comprising a velocity of the UI manipulation;

determine, based on the input and bounds of the content, a position in the content at which a second portion of the content is associated, display of the second portion of the content in the application interface being responsive to the UI manipulation; and

provide the position to the second entity effective to enable the second entity to render the second portion of the content at the position and in the application interface in response to the UI manipulation.

17. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 16, wherein determine the position is further based on:

a size of a viewport in which the first portion of the content is displayed in the application interface or in which the second portion of the content will be displayed in the application interface; and

criteria additional to the input and the bounds, the criteria indicating that a potential position responsive to the input will, at the size of the viewport, overlap sub-portions of the content or overshoot the bounds of the content, wherein the position causes the second portion of the content to not overlap sub-portions or overshoot the bounds of the content, respectively.

18. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 16, wherein the first entity operates in a computational process that does not perform pre-rendering and the second entity operates in a different computational process that does perform pre-rendering.

19. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 16, wherein the second entity is an application responsible for rendering content in the application interface.

20. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receive, at a first entity operating asynchronous from a second entity, bounds of content capable of being displayed in an application interface;

receive or determine, at the first entity, a size and location of a viewport of the application interface;

receive, at the first entity, an input from a user interface (UI) manipulation of the content a first portion of which is presented in the viewport of the application interface, the input comprising a velocity of the UI manipulation;

determine, based on the input, the bounds, and the size and location of the viewport, a position in the content at which a second portion of the content is associated, display of the second portion of the content in the application interface being responsive to the input; and

provide the position to a third entity having access to pre-rendered content prepared by and received from the second entity, the pre-rendered content including at least the second portion of the content effective to enable the third entity to display, based on the position, the second portion of the content in the viewport of the application interface in response to the input from the UI manipulation.