METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTHORING MULTIPLE APPLICATION VERSIONS BASED ON AUDIENCE QUALIFIERS

• US 20110022637A1
• Filed: 08/31/2010
• Published: 01/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ESW Holdings, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Ensequence Incorporated
• Inventors: Khader, Aslam, York, Halstead Winship, Harper, Jeffrey Todd
• Granted Patent: US 8,682,945 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/793
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A computer system is used to create and distribute applications. An audience qualifier and a set of categories corresponding to the audience qualifier are selected. A master application template is selected. The master application template may be pre-certified. For each of the selected categories, an application instance is created from the master application template, where the modifications to the master application template for each category are determined at least in part by the characteristics of the category. Metadata describing the audience qualifier and category are associated with each application instance. The application instances may be certified. The application instances are distributed in accordance with the metadata.

Claims

1. In a computer system providing an application authoring environment, a method of creating and distributing multiple versions of an application characterized by:

selecting an audience qualifier having a plurality of categories within the audience qualifier;

selecting at least a first one and a second one of the plurality of categories for within the selected audience qualifier;

in the authoring environment;

from a master application template, creating for each of the first one and second one of the plurality of categories at least one application instance having a specified appearance and behavior, wherein the appearance and behavior of each application instance are determined at least in part by characteristics of the associated first one or second one of the plurality of categories; and

associating metadata with each application instance specifying the audience qualifier and category corresponding to the application instance; and

distributing each application instance in accordance with the associated metadata.

2. The method of claim 1, further characterized by, in the authoring environment, submitting each application instance created from the master application template for certification prior to the distribution step.

3. The method of claim 1, further including the step of certifying the master application template prior to creation of the application instances, the application instances created from the master application template consequently having a certified status.

4. The method of claim 1, further including:

storing the master application template in a repository of other such master application templates; and

retrieving the master application template from the repository into the authoring environment.

5. The method of claim 1, the master application template including a plurality of attributes, wherein the step of creating the application instance from a master application template includes modifying at least one of the plurality of attributes of the master application template.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a first one of the plurality of attributes is an image resource and a second one of the plurality of attributes is descriptive text, the image resource and text for the application instance created for the first one of the plurality of categories is different from the image resource and text for an application instance created for the second one of the plurality of categories.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the audience qualifier is ‘

gender’ and

the first one and second one of the plurality of categories are ‘

male’ and

‘

female’

.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the audience qualifier is ‘

age’ and

the first one and second one of the plurality of categories are different age ranges.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of modifying at least one of the plurality of attributes includes selecting one or more attributes and assigning values to the one or more attributes based at least in part on the characteristics of the associated first one or second one of the plurality of categories.

10. A system for creating applications wherein the applications are associated with a specified audience qualifier and category within the specified audience qualifier, the system comprising:

a master template retrieval component configured to retrieve master application templates from a master application template repository, each of said master application templates having a plurality of attributes that act to regulate the appearance and behavior of application instances created from the master application templates;

a category selection component operable on the application authoring system and configured to allow an application author to select an audience qualifier and at least two categories within the audience qualifier; and

an application instance creation component configured to select a master application template, create for each of the categories at least one application instance from the master application template, wherein the appearance and behavior of the application instance are determined at least in part by characteristics of the associated category, and associate metadata with each application instance describing the audience qualifier and category associated with the application.

11. The method of claim 10, the master application template including a plurality of attributes, wherein each application instance created from the master application template includes at least a changed one of the plurality of attributes of the master application template.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a first one of the plurality of attributes is an image resource and a second one of the plurality of attributes is descriptive text, the image resource and text for the application instance created for a first one of a plurality of categories is different from the image resource and text for the application instance created for a second one of the plurality of categories.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the audience qualifier is ‘

gender’ and

the first one and second one of the plurality of categories are ‘

male’ and

‘

female’

.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the audience qualifier is ‘

age’ and

the first one and second one of the plurality of categories are different age ranges.

15. A computer system for application authoring and distribution comprising:

a selection component configured to select an audience qualifier and at least two categories for the audience qualifier;

an authoring component configured to select a master application template, create for each of the categories at least one application instance from the master application template, wherein the appearance and behavior of the application instance are determined at least in part by characteristics of the associated category, and associate metadata with each application instance specifying the audience qualifier and category corresponding to the application instance; and

a distribution component configured to distribute the application instances in accordance with the associated metadata.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the authoring component is further configured to submit each application instance for certification.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the master application template is a certified master application template and each application instance is certified by virtue of the certification of the certified master application template.