Language notification generator

• US 8,880,999 B1
• Filed: 09/24/2013
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Axure Software Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Axure Software Solutions Incorporated
• Inventors: Hsu, Victor, Smith, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): HUYNH, THU V
• Application Number:
  US14/035,932
• Time in Patent Office: 406 Days
• Field of Search: 715/234, 715/255, 717/123, 717/106, 717/109
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

Computer-implemented methods relating to interactive graphical designs are provided. One method includes adding a widget to a graphical instantiation of a web page design that is being displayed in a graphical design environment. The method also includes generating an encoded instantiation of the web page design using a compiler and the graphical instantiation. The method also includes rendering the encoded instantiation in a player. A portion of the encoded instantiation is used by the player for an aspect of an interaction between a viewer of the web page design and the widget. The method also includes generating a notification to describe that aspect of the interaction. The notification is a more cogent description of that aspect of the interaction than the portion of the encoded instantiation.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a description for a widget from a user via a widget specification interface, the description describing an aspect of an interactive feature of the widget;

generating an encoded instantiation of an interactive web page design using a compiler and the description;

rendering the encoded instantiation in a player, wherein the interactive feature of the widget is utilized;

generating a notification using the description when the interactive feature of the widget has been utilized;

receiving a notification selection input from the user via a notification selection interface; and

incorporating a set of non-executable code segments into the encoded instantiation when generating the encoded instantiation using;

(i) the compiler, (ii) the description, and (iii) the notification selection input;

wherein the notification selection prevents a type of notification from being generated when the encoded instantiation is generated; and

wherein the type of notification is one of;

(i) an action taken notification, (ii) a condition evaluation notification, and (iii) an event occurrence notification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the notification includes a condition evaluation notification and a value for a variable in the interactive web page design when the interactive feature of the widget is utilized.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the notification is a natural language sentence; and

the notification is a condition evaluation notification.

4. A computer-implemented method comprising:

accepting a set of design specifications from a user, the design specifications defining a set of potential responses to events for a rendering of an interactive graphical design;

generating a graphical instantiation of the design while accepting the design specifications;

generating an encoded instantiation of the design using a compiler and the graphical instantiation, the compiler incorporating a non-executable description of an event associated with the set of potential responses to events into the encoded instantiation;

rendering the encoded instantiation of the design using a player;

executing the event using a portion of the encoded instantiation and the player; and

generating a notification to indicate the occurrence of the event using the non-executable description;

wherein the notification is a more concise representation of the event than the portion of the encoded instantiation.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

facilitating the display of the notification to the user in a debugging interface;

wherein the notification includes a value for a variable in the interactive graphical design when the event is executed in the player.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

accepting a selection of the notification from the user in the debugging interface; and

facilitating the display of a portion of the interactive graphical design associated with the event in response to the selection.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

saving the notification in a memory to create a stored notification, the stored notification being among a collection of stored notifications in the memory, and the collection of stored notifications describing an interactive session between a viewer and the interactive graphical design.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing the collection of stored notifications to an analytics tool for analyzing the interactive session.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

rendering the encoded instantiation in accordance with the interactive session;

wherein the stored notification uses the player to create a playback of the interactive session.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a pause request to the playback of the interactive session;

pausing the playback of the interactive session in response to the pause request;

receiving a variable modification request when the playback of the interactive session is paused; and

rendering the encoded instantiation in accordance with the interactive session, the stored notification, and the variable modification request to create an alternative playback of the interactive session.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for a computer-implemented method comprising:

accepting a set of design specifications from a user, the set of design specifications defining a set of potential responses to events for a rendering of an interactive graphical design;

generating a graphical instantiation of the design while accepting the design specifications;

receiving a notification selection input, wherein the notification selection input defines a subset of responses to events in the set of potential responses to events;

generating an encoded instantiation of the design using a compiler and the set of design specifications;

executing a response to an event in the subset of responses to events multiple times using a portion of the encoded instantiation as the encoded instantiation is rendered by a set of multiple players for a set of multiple users;

generating a set of notifications, wherein each notification in the set of notifications indicates an execution of the response to the event;

saving the set of notifications to memory to create a collection of stored notifications;

providing the collection of stored notifications to an analytics tool; and

analyzing how the set of multiple users interacted with the design using the analytics tool;

wherein the notification is a more concise representation of the response to the event than the portion of the encoded instantiation.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:

facilitating the display of the notification to the user in a debugging interface;

wherein the notification includes a value for a variable in the interactive graphical design when the response to the event is executed.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:

accepting a selection of the notification from the user in the debugging interface; and

facilitating the display of a portion of the interactive graphical design associated with the response to the event in response to the selection.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein:

the subset of events defined by the notification selection input are events associated with a single type of widget in the interactive graphical design.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein:

the single type of widget is a page widget.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein:

the set of design specifications place a widget in the interactive graphical design; and

the widget is defined in part by a predefined set of potential conditions.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein:

the set of notifications indicate that the widget was placed in one of the potential conditions.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:

receiving a drag and drop command from the user to add the widget to the interactive graphical design;

wherein the widget is a page.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein:

the set of notifications are generated in real time; and

the analytics tool can be used to batch process the collection of stored notifications to determine how often a link in the design was selected.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein:

the subset of events defined by the notification selection input are events associated with a single type of widget in the interactive graphical design; and

the single type of widget is a page widget.