Generating customized graphical user interfaces for mobile processing devices

• US 8,694,925 B1
• Filed: 10/05/2005
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Beust, Cedric, Baluja, Shumeet, Kamvar, Maryam, Gil, Elad
• Primary Examiner(s): Long, Andrea
• Application Number:
  US11/243,916
• Time in Patent Office: 3,107 Days
• Field of Search: 715/744, 715/864, 715/866
• US Class Current: 715/866
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

Systems and techniques for producing graphical user interfaces on handheld mobile devices include generating a markup language code defining a graphical user interface component for display on the handheld mobile device and rendering the generated markup language code to produce the graphical user interface component. In some cases, the graphical user interface component includes at least one adaptable attribute based on a selection made by a user. In other cases, a graphical user interface component is generated using static markup language code or a combination of static and dynamically generated markup language code. Graphical user interface components defined by markup language codes can be displayed in an overall graphical user interface along with components that are native to the device and/or that are defined by an application development platform.

Claims

1. An article comprising a non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions for causing data processing apparatus of a handheld mobile device to:

receive a request to generate markup language code defining a graphical user interface component, wherein the request is generated by a particular application stored on a handheld mobile device, the request defining at least one parameter for the a graphical user interface component;

generate a markup language code locally on the handheld mobile device for local rendering on the handheld mobile device based at least in part on the at least one parameter, the markup language code defining the graphical user interface component for display on the handheld mobile device to provide for user interaction with the particular application that generated the request, the graphical user interface component including at least one adaptable attribute based on a selection made by a user of the handheld mobile device; and

render the locally generated markup language code to produce the graphical user interface component for display on the handheld mobile device.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein:

the selection is made through an interaction with the particular application running on the handheld mobile device; and

the graphical user interface component is displayed on the handheld mobile device using the particular application.

3. The article of claim 2 wherein the non-transitory machine-readable medium stores instructions for further causing data processing apparatus to retrieve a static markup language code from a file associated with the particular application.

4. The article of claim 3 wherein the non-transitory machine-readable medium stores instructions for further causing data processing apparatus to render the static markup language code to produce another graphical user interface component.

5. The article of claim 3 wherein the non-transitory machine-readable medium stores instructions for further causing data processing apparatus to combine the static markup language code with the locally generated markup language code to produce a combined markup language code, wherein the graphical user interface component is produced by rendering the combined markup language code.

6. The article of claim 1 wherein the at least one adaptable attribute is selected from the group consisting of a size, a color, a shape, a format, and a text.

7. The article of claim 1 wherein the non-transitory machine-readable medium stores instructions for further causing data processing apparatus to display a graphical user interface component defined by an application development platform on the handheld mobile device.

8. The article of claim 1, wherein the locally generated markup language code includes hypertext markup language code.

9. The article of claim 1, wherein generating a markup language code locally on the handheld mobile device includes:

dynamically generating hypertext markup language code segments; and

incorporating hypertext markup language code fragments stored on the handheld mobile device into the dynamically generated hypertext markup language code segments.

10. A system comprising:

a memory of a handheld mobile device adapted to store;

a particular application including instructions for sending a request to generate markup language code defining a graphical user interface component, the request including an identification of a state of at least one variable; and

markup language code generated locally on the handheld mobile device based at least in part on the state of the at least one variable, the markup language code for use by the particular application stored on the handheld mobile device; and

a rendering engine configured to render the locally generated markup language code to produce a graphical user interface component for display on the handheld mobile device by the particular application, the graphical user interface component providing for a user interaction with the particular application.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the memory is adapted to store a file associated with the particular application, the file comprising the markup language code.

12. An article comprising a non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions for causing data processing apparatus of a handheld mobile device to:

display on the handheld mobile device a predefined user interface component in a graphical user interface for a particular application of the handheld mobile device, wherein the predefined user interface component is defined by an application development platform of the handheld mobile device;

generate markup language code defining a markup language user interface component locally on the handheld mobile device based at least in part on at least one parameter defined in a request from the particular application of a handheld mobile device;

produce the markup language user interface component by rendering the generated markup language code; and

display on the handheld mobile device the produced markup language user interface component in the graphical user interface for the particular application of the handheld mobile device, the markup language user interface providing for user interaction with the particular application.

13. The article of claim 12 wherein the predefined user interface component defined by the application development platform comprises a mobile information device profile (MIDP) user interface component.

14. The article of claim 12 wherein the non-transitory machine-readable medium stores instructions for further causing data processing apparatus to receive user input based on a user interaction with at least one of the predefined user interface component or the markup language user interface component.

15. The article of claim 12 wherein rendering the generated markup language code comprises using an application programming interface to render the markup language code.

16. A method comprising:

providing a particular application for a handheld mobile device, wherein the particular application includes instructions for generating and rendering a markup language code locally on the handheld mobile device, the markup language code defining a first graphical user interface component for display by the particular application on the handheld mobile device, the first graphical user interface component providing for user interaction with the particular application; and

providing a library containing a second graphical user interface component for display on the handheld mobile device, the second graphical user interface component defined using a markup language and the library accessible by the particular application using an application programming interface.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the instructions generate different markup language codes in response to different user selections.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the library is associated with the particular application and is stored on the handheld mobile device.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the library is located remotely and is accessed using a wireless interface.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising producing a graphical user interface including the first graphical user interface component and the second graphical user interface component on the handheld mobile device using a markup language renderer.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein at least one of the particular application or the library include markup language fragments used by the instructions in combination with markup language code segments produced by the instructions for generating the markup language code.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the particular application communicates with a remote server using a wireless interface.

23. The method of claim 16 further comprising providing mobile information device profile (MIDP) user interface components for use by the particular application.