System and method for facilitating user interaction in a browser environment

• US 20030066032A1
• Filed: 09/28/2001
• Published: 04/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Siebel Systems Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Nash, Christopher Scott, Bowe, Thomas W. Jr., Ramachandran, Parthasarathy
• Granted Patent: US 6,993,712 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/513
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop

Abstract

Techniques to support various operations (e.g., drag-and-drop, stretch) and data manipulation in a browser environment, e.g., to allow data for an object located in one part of a document (e.g., a webpage) to be associated with another object located in another part of the document. In one design, a document includes at least one applet for at least one display window. Each applet includes at least one browser object representative of an entity for an end application. Each browser object is associated with a respective set of one or more scripts used to facilitate a set of one or more operations (e.g., drag-and-drop, stretch) permitted for the browser object. A data transfer object is generated upon initiation of a selected operation and includes data associated with a source (browser) object. The data transfer object may thereafter be operated on by various target (browser) object to effectuate the selected operation.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating user interaction in a browser environment, comprising:

receiving a document having included therein a plurality of source and target objects and a plurality of scripts;

receiving a first indication of a particular operation being initiated on a selected source object;

executing a first script associated with the selected source object to generate a data transfer object having included therein data associated with the selected source object;

receiving a second indication of the particular operation being completed on a selected target object; and

executing a second script associated with the selected target object to operate on the data included in the data transfer object to effectuate the particular operation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the document is a webpage.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular operation is a drag-and-drop operation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular operation is a stretch operation.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third indication of the data transfer object being moved into a representation for a potential target object; and

modifying the representation for the potential target object in response to receiving the third indication.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

executing a third script associated with the potential target object to check the data included in the data transfer object against data associated with the potential target object, and

wherein the representation is modified based on results of the check.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

changing color of the representation for the potential target object if the selected source object can be associated with the potential target object.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a fourth indication of the data transfer object being moved out of the representation for the potential target object; and

restoring the representation for the potential target object in response to receiving the fourth indication.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second script initiates a call to update the selected target object to reflect the completion of the particular operation.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an updated document with updates for the selected source and target objects.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the document includes a plurality of applets for a plurality of display windows.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected source object is located in a first applet and the selected target object is located in a second applet.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected source and target objects are both located in the same applet.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one applet represents a Gantt chart.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the Gantt chart is configurable to display a specific type of browser objects selected from among a plurality of possible types of browser objects.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one applet represents a list applet.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second indications are signaled by events fired by a browser used to display the document.

18. A document capable of facilitating user interaction in a browser environment and comprising at least one applet, each applet including at least one browser object representative of an entity for an end application, and each browser object associated with a respective set of one or more scripts used to facilitate a set of one or more operations permitted for the associated browser object.

19. The document of claim 18 and comprising a webpage.

20. The document of claim 18, wherein the set of one or more permitted operations for each browser object includes a drag-and-drop operation.

21. The document of claim 18, wherein the set of one or more permitted operations for each browser object includes a stretch operation.

22. The document of claim 18, wherein a browser object is a source object if it is selectable to originate a particular operation, and is a target object if it is selectable as a destination for a particular operation.

23. The document of claim 18, wherein the one or more scripts for each browser object are operative to perform a first set of actions if the browser object is selected as a source object for a particular operation, and to perform a second set of actions if the browser object is selected as a target object for the particular operation.

24. The document of claim 23, wherein the first set of actions includes generating a data transfer object having included therein data associated with the browser object.

25. The document of claim 23, wherein the particular operation is a drag-and-drop operation, and wherein the one or more scripts for each browser object selectable as a target object are further operative to perform a first subset of actions if a selected source object is dropped onto the target object.

26. The document of claim 25, wherein the one or more scripts for each browser object selectable as a target object is further operative to perform a second subset of actions if the selected source object is dragged into the browser object and a third subset of actions if the selected source object is dragged out of the browser object.

27. A computer program product for facilitating user interaction in a browser environment, comprising a computer-usable medium having embodied therein computer-readable program codes for:

describing a document having included therein a plurality of source and target objects and a plurality of scripts;

receiving a first indication of a particular operation being initiated on a selected source object;

a first script associated with the selected source object and executed to generate a data transfer object having included therein data associated with the selected source object;

receiving a second indication of the particular operation being completed on a selected target object; and

a second script associated with the selected target object and executed to operate on the data included in the data transfer object to effectuate the particular operation.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the particular operation is a drag-and-drop operation or a stretch operation.

29. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the computer-usable medium is further embodied with computer-readable program codes for:

receiving a third indication of the data transfer object being moved into a representation for a potential target object;

modifying the representation for the potential target object in response to receiving the third indication;

receiving a fourth indication of the data transfer object being moved out of the representation for the potential target object; and

restoring the representation for the potential target object in response to receiving the fourth indication.

30. A computer program product for facilitating user interaction in a browser environment, comprising:

code for describing a document having included therein a plurality of source and target objects and a plurality of scripts;

code for receiving a first indication of a particular operation being initiated on a selected source object;

code for a first script associated with the selected source object and executed to generate a data transfer object having included therein data associated with the selected source object;

code for receiving a second indication of the particular operation being completed on a selected target object;

code for a second script associated with the selected target object and executed to operate on the data included in the data transfer object to effectuate the particular operation; and

a data storage medium configured to store the codes.