Caching intermediate data for scroll view rendering

• US 9,552,212 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2011
• Issued: 01/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhao, Keping
• Primary Examiner(s): Belousov, Andrey
• Application Number:
  US13/102,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20120284664A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,090 Days
• Field of Search: 715/784
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

Data to be rendered for a scrolling display is processed into an intermediate format. The intermediate format includes data that maps directly to the rendered, displayed format with little computation, yet is smaller in size than the rendered data. This intermediate format is cached, and is rendered on demand during scrolling. During idle times of the display, original data, likely to be accessed in response to scrolling the display, can be prefetched and transformed to the intermediate format.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented process comprising:

receiving original data into memory of a device wherein the original data when rendered do not fit within a display of the device and do not map directly to a rendered display format for the display;

a processor of the device transforming an initial portion of the received original data in the memory into an intermediate format stored in a cache in memory of the device, the data in the intermediate format having a direct mapping to a display format, the initial portion of the received original data including at least a first part of the original data which, when rendered, fits within the display of the device, and a second part of the original data which, when rendered, does not fit within the display of the device;

the processor of the device accessing the transformed original data in the intermediate format corresponding to the first part of the initial portion of the received original data, and rendering the accessed transformed original data of the first part into the display format;

displaying the rendered first part of the initial portion of the transformed original data on the display of the device;

receiving an input indicative of an action of a user selecting another portion of the received original data; and

in response to the input indicative of the action from the user selecting another portion of the received original data, the processor of the device processing the input by;

determining, based on the selected other portion of the received data, if transformed data corresponding to the selected other portion of the received original data is in the cache,

in response to determining the transformed data is in the cache, accessing the transformed original data in the intermediate format corresponding to the selected other portion of the received original data from the cache,

in response to determining the transformed data is not in the cache, transforming the selected other portion of the received original data into the intermediate format and storing the transformed data in the cache, and

rendering the transformed original data in the intermedia format for the selected other portion of the original data into the display format and displaying the rendered intermediate format data for the selected other portion of the original data on the display of the device; and

repeating the steps of receiving an input and processing the input in an interactive process.

2. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 wherein the interactive process includes receiving inputs as a user controls a view of the data to request display of different portions of the original data.

3. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising prefetching the original data and transforming the prefetched original data into data in the intermediate format stored in the cache during idle times of the display based on a prediction of likely portions of the original data to be requested.

9. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein the action from the user selecting another portion of the received original data comprises a scrolling operation related to the display.

10. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein the original data comprises a first part comprising a template describing how to render and layout an item of data and a second part comprising a value containing information about the item of data.

11. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein the intermediate format comprises an intermediate data object referencing an area and content rendered in the area.

12. The computer-implemented process of claim 3, wherein the prediction is based on an order of presentation of items in the original data.

4. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer storage medium;

computer program instructions stored on the computer storage medium which, when processed by a processor of a device with a display, instruct the processor to perform a process comprising;

receiving original data into memory of the device wherein the original data when rendered do not fit within the display of the device and do not map directly to a rendered display format for the display;

the processor of the device transforming an initial portion of the received original data in the memory into an intermediate format stored in a cache in memory of the device, the data in the intermediate format having a direct mapping to a display format, the initial portion of the received original data including at least a first part of the original data which, when rendered, fits within the display of the device, and a second part of the original data which, when rendered, does not fit within the display of the device;

the processor of the device accessing the transformed original data in the intermediate format corresponding to the first part of the initial portion of the received original data, and rendering the accessed transformed original data of the first part into the display format;

displaying the rendered first part of the initial portion of the transformed original data on the display of the device;

receiving an input indicative of an action of a user selecting another portion of the received original data; and

in response to the input indicative of the action from the user selecting another portion of the received original data, the processor of the device processing the input by;

determining, based on the selected other portion of the received data, if transformed data corresponding to the selected other portion of the received original data is in the cache,

in response to determining the transformed data is in the cache, accessing the transformed original data in the intermediate format corresponding to the selected other portion of the received original data from the cache,

in response to determining the transformed data is not in the cache, transforming the selected other portion of the received original data into the intermediate format and storing the transformed data in the cache, and

rendering the transformed original data in the intermedia format for the selected other portion of the original data into the display format and displaying the rendered intermediate format data for the selected other portion of the original data on the display of the device; and

repeating the steps of receiving an input and processing the input in an interactive process.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein the interactive process includes receiving inputs as a user controls a view of the data to request display of different portions of the original data.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein the process further comprises prefetching the original data and transforming the prefetched original data into data in the intermediate format in the cache during idle times of the display based on a prediction of likely portions of the original data to be requested.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein the action from the user selecting another portion of the received original data comprises a scrolling operation related to the display.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein the original data comprises a first part comprising a template describing how to render and layout an item of data and a second part comprising a value containing information about the item of data.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein the intermediate format comprises an intermediate data object referencing an area and content rendered in the area.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the prediction is based on an order of presentation of items in the original data.

7. A computing machine comprising:

a processor, a memory connected to the processor, and a display;

a cache in the memory of the computing machine;

a transform module executed by the processor and having an input for receiving data from the memory of the computing machine in an original format, wherein the data in the original format, when rendered, do not fit within the display of the computing machine and do not map directly to a rendered display format for the display, and an output providing at least an initial portion of the original data in an intermediate format for storage in the cache in the memory of the computing machine in which the data in the intermediate format have a direct mapping to a display format, the initial portion of the received original data including at least a first part of the original data which, when rendered, fits within the display of the device, and a second part of the original data which, when rendered, does not fit within the display of the device;

a rendering module executed on the processor and having an input to receive data in the intermediate format from the cache and an output providing data rendered from the data in the intermediate format into the display format;

the display having an input to receive the rendered data and a display area to display the rendered data; and

wherein the rendering module receives, in an interactive process, user interface inputs, an input indicating an action from the user selecting another portion of the received original data, the rendering module being operative in response to the action to;

determine, based on the selected other portion of the received data, if transformed data corresponding to the selected other portion of the received original data is in the cache,

in response to determining the transformed data is in the cache, access the data in the intermediate format corresponding to the selected other portion of the original data from the cache,

in response to determining the transformed data is not in the cache, direct the transform module to transform the selected other portion of the received original data into the intermediate format and store the transformed data in the cache, and

render, and output to the display, the data in the intermediate format for the selected other portion of the received original data.

8. The computing machine of claim 7, further comprising a prefetch module having an output instructing the transform module to transform a portion of the original data into intermediate format data stored in the cache during idle times of the display based on a prediction of likely portions of the original data to be requested.

17. The computing machine of claim 7, wherein the action from the user selecting another portion of the received original data comprises a scrolling operation related to the display.

18. The computing machine of claim 7, wherein the original data comprises a first part comprising a template describing how to render and layout an item of data and a second part comprising a value containing information about the item of data.

19. The computing machine of claim 7, wherein the intermediate format comprises an intermediate data object referencing an area and content rendered in the area.

20. The computing machine of claim 8, wherein the prediction is based on an order of presentation of items in the original data.