Automated graphical user interface design and development systems and methods

• US 8,938,685 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2010
• Issued: 01/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Zavatone, Alex
• Primary Examiner(s): TITCOMB, WILLIAM D
• Application Number:
  US12/983,109
• Publication Number:
  US 20120174000A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,481 Days
• Field of Search: 715763-765
• US Class Current: 715/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

An exemplary method includes a graphics export subsystem interfacing with a graphical user interface design subsystem to access data representative of a graphical user interface screen design, generating, based on the data representative of the graphical user interface screen design, abstraction data representative of the graphical user interface screen design, and generating, based on the abstraction data, computing code configured to be processed by target computing devices having different computing platforms to render graphical user interface screens in accordance with the graphical user interface screen design. In certain examples, the method may further include exporting the computing code to a distribution subsystem for access by a developer. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

interfacing, by a computing device including a graphics export subsystem, with a graphical user interface design subsystem to access data representative of a graphical user interface screen design, the data representative of the graphical user interface screen design including data representative of one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design;

generating, by the computing device including the graphics export subsystem based on the data representative of the graphical user interface screen design, abstraction data representative of the graphical user interface screen design, wherein the generating of the abstraction data comprises normalizing graphical element position data included in the data representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design for inclusion in the abstraction data;

generating, by the computing device including the graphics export subsystem based on the abstraction data, computing code in a plurality of different programming languages associated with a plurality of target computing devices having different computing platforms to render graphical user interfaces, the generated computing code in the plurality of different programming languages configured to be processed by the target computing devices having the different computing platforms to render graphical user interface screens in accordance with the graphical user interface screen design; and

exporting, by the computing device including the graphics export subsystem, the generated computing code in the plurality of different programming languages associated with the plurality of target computing devices having the different computing platforms.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising

generating, by the computing device based on the data representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design, data representative of one or more streamlined graphical elements representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more streamlined graphical elements are configured for reference by the computing code when the computing code is processed by the target computing devices to render the one or more streamlined graphical elements in the graphical user interface screens in accordance with the graphical user interface screen design.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the generating of the data representative of the one or more streamlined graphical elements includes removing extraneous data from the data representative of the one or more graphical elements to form the one or more streamlined graphical elements.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising exporting, by the computing device, at least one of the computing code in one of the plurality of different programming languages and the one or more streamlined graphical elements to a distribution subsystem for access by a developer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing code in one of the plurality of different programming languages comprises at least one of programming code and a data structure.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the normalized graphical element position data in the abstraction data specifies a left bound, a right bound, a top bound, and a bottom bound for each of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design.

8. method of claim 1, wherein the normalized graphical element position data in the abstraction data specifies a first reference position offset along a first dimension and a second reference position offset along a second dimension.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first and second reference position offsets specify offsets from a normalized reference position.

10. The method of claim 1, embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein the extraneous data comprises data associated with one or more pixels positioned outside of dimensions of the one or more graphical elements.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the one or more graphical elements comprise one or more vector graphics;

the method further comprises rasterizing the one or more vector graphics to one or more bitmap graphics; and

the generating of the data representative of the one or more streamlined graphical elements comprises utilizing the one or more bitmap graphics to generate one or more streamlined bitmap graphics representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design.

13. The method of claim 4, wherein the extraneous data comprises data associated with one or more transparent pixels of the one or more graphical elements.

14. The method of claim 4, wherein the extraneous data comprises data associated with one or more pixels positioned outside of dimensions of the graphical user interface screens.

15. A method comprising:

interfacing, by a computing device including a graphics export subsystem, with a graphical user interface design subsystem to access data representative of one or more graphical elements included in a graphical user interface screen design;

generating, by the computing device including the graphics export subsystem based on the data representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design, data representative of one or more streamlined graphical elements representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design, wherein the generating of the data representative of one or more streamlined graphical elements comprises normalizing graphical element position data included in the data representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design;

referencing, by the computing device including the graphics export subsystem, the data representative of the one or more streamlined graphical elements with computing code in a plurality of different programming languages associated with a plurality of target computing devices having different computing platforms to render graphical user interfaces, the computing code in the plurality of different programming languages configured to be processed by the target computing devices having the different computing platforms to render graphical user interface screens in accordance with the graphical user interface screen design; and

exporting, by the computing device including the graphics export subsystem, the computing code in the plurality of different programming languages associated with the plurality of target computing devices having the different computing platforms.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the generating of the data representative of the one or more streamlined graphical elements further comprises removing extraneous data from the data representative of the one or more graphical elements to form the one or more streamlined graphical elements.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the extraneous data comprises data associated with at least one of transparent pixels of the one or more graphical elements, pixels positioned outside of dimensions of a graphical user interface screen, and pixels positioned outside of dimensions of the one or more graphical elements.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the one or more graphical elements comprise one or more vector graphics;

the method further comprises rasterizing the one or more vector graphics to one or more bitmap graphics; and

the generating of the data representative of the one or more streamlined graphical elements comprises utilizing the one or more bitmap graphics to generate one or more streamlined bitmap graphics representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating, by the computing device based on the data representative of the graphical user interface screen design, abstraction data representative of the graphical user interface screen design; and

generating, by the computing device based on the abstraction data, the computing code in the plurality of different programming languages.

20. The method of claim 15, embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

21. A system comprising:

at least one computing device including;

an interface facility that interfaces with a graphical user interface design subsystem to access data representative of a graphical user interface screen design, the data representative of the graphical user interface screen design including data representative of one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design;

an abstraction facility communicatively coupled to the interface facility and that generates, based on the data representative of the graphical user interface screen design, abstraction data representative of the graphical user interface screen design, wherein the generating of the abstraction data comprises normalizing graphical element position data included in the data representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design for inclusion in the abstraction data; and

an exporter facility communicatively coupled to the interface facility and the abstraction facility and that;

generates, based on the abstraction data, computing code in a plurality of different programming languages associated with a plurality of target computing devices having different computing platforms to render graphical user interfaces, the generated computing code in the plurality of different programming languages configured to be processed by the target computing devices having the different computing platforms to render graphical user interface screens in accordance with the graphical user interface screen design, and

exports the generated computing code in the plurality of different programming languages associated with the plurality of target computing devices having the different computing platforms.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein:

the exporter facility further generates, based on the data representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design, data representative of one or more streamlined graphical elements representative of the one or more graphical elements included in the graphical user interface screen design; and

the one or more streamlined graphical elements are configured for reference by the computing code when the computing code is processed by the target computing devices to render the one or more streamlined graphical elements in the graphical user interface screens in accordance with the graphical user interface screen design.