ASYNCHRONOUS UPDATING OF WEB PAGE DATA VIEWS

• US 20080320050A1
• Filed: 06/25/2007
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Chan, Gregory L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,895,179 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation

Abstract

Embodiments are provided to create and manage data view modules for updating data on a web page, without having to reload the entire web page to view the updated data. In one embodiment, a static data view module for viewing web data is modified utilizing an asynchronous update function which provides asynchronous update behavior for the data view module. The asynchronous update function enables the data view module to automatically update data displayed in a data view independently of data displayed in other static data views which may be present in a web page and which may only be updated by reloading the entire web page. In another embodiment, application programming interfaces (APIs) may be provided in the modified data view module which, when exposed, facilitate the building of customized data views by providing asynchronous update behavior for customized data view modules in a web page.

Claims

1. A method of asynchronously updating a data view in a web page in a computer system, comprising:

retrieving a data view module to be modified on the web page;

retrieving at least one asynchronous update function;

modifying the data view module utilizing the at least one asynchronous update function;

inserting the modified data view module in the web page; and

updating a data view in the web page corresponding to the modified data view module without reloading the web page.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a visual indicator on the web page while the data view is being updated.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising disabling the asynchronous update function in the modified data view module.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving a data view module comprises retrieving a data form web part class.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving at least one asynchronous update function comprises retrieving at least one Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) function.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the data view without reloading the entire web page comprises automatically refreshing data in the data view, the web page comprising a plurality of additional data views which are not updated.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the data view without reloading the entire web page comprises displaying additional data in response to a selection of data in the data view.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the data view without reloading the entire web page comprises manipulating the position of one or more columns comprising data in the data view.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the data view without reloading the entire web page comprises filtering data in the data view against other data stored in a database in the computer system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the data view without reloading the entire web page comprises sorting data in the data view.

11. A system for displaying on a display device a data view for asynchronously updating data on a web page, comprising:

a memory for storing executable program code; and

a processor, functionally coupled to the memory, the processor being responsive to computer-executable instructions contained in the program code and operative;

to receive a selection of a data view module to insert into the web page;

in response to receiving the selection of the data view module, to generate a list of data for insertion into the data view module;

to receive a data selection from the data list; and

to insert the selected data view module and the selected data as a data view into the web page, the inserted data view asynchronously updating the selected data on the web page without reloading other data displayed on the web page.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operative to display a visual indicator on the web page while the selected data is being asynchronously updated on the web page.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the selected data view module comprises a modified data view web part.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the selected data view module comprises a modified data form web part class.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the selected data from the data list is stored in a database.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the database comprises a structured query language (SQL) database.

17. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed on a computer, will cause the computer to perform a method of building a customized data view from a modified data view module for asynchronously updating data on a web page, the method comprising:

receiving a function call for at least one exposed application program interface (API) in the modified data view module; and

utilizing the at least one exposed API to build a customized data view module on top of the modified data view module to asynchronously update data corresponding to the customized data view module on the web page.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the modified data view module comprises a modified data view web part.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the modified data view module comprises a modified data form web part class.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the modified data form data view module class comprises an AJAX function.