Method and apparatus for building an application interface
First Claim
1. In a computer system, a method of building an application interface comprising:
- obtaining a data palette that displays a set of data fields and relationships defined for said data fields;
obtaining an output hierarchy having a plurality of output levels, each of said plurality of output levels being associated with one or more interface components of an application interface; and
using said relationships to assign a selected one of said data fields to one of said one or more interface components of one of said plurality of output levels of said output hierarchy, said step of using said relationships comprising traversing a table hierarchy to identify one of said plurality of output levels for said selected data field.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention comprise a design tool for designing an application interface. The design tool includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that visually represents a hierarchy of data and the relationships between the data. Thus, the design tool eliminates the need for an interface designer to have independent knowledge of the structure of the data (i.e., the data fields and relationships between the data). The design tool'"'"'s GUI represents the data and the relationships between the data in a hierarchical display referred to as a data palette. An output hierarchy comprised of output levels is created as the user selects fields from the data palette to be displayed in the application'"'"'s interface. When a data field is selected, the design tool automatically determines the appropriate interface component and output level of the output hierarchy using the relationships defined for the data. Output levels are associated with interface components that comprise the application'"'"'s interface. Examples of interface components that can be used in the application'"'"'s interface include a form, view and subband.
184 Citations
36 Claims
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1. In a computer system, a method of building an application interface comprising:
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obtaining a data palette that displays a set of data fields and relationships defined for said data fields; obtaining an output hierarchy having a plurality of output levels, each of said plurality of output levels being associated with one or more interface components of an application interface; and using said relationships to assign a selected one of said data fields to one of said one or more interface components of one of said plurality of output levels of said output hierarchy, said step of using said relationships comprising traversing a table hierarchy to identify one of said plurality of output levels for said selected data field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to build an application interface, said computer program product comprising; computer readable code configured to cause a computer to obtain a data palette that displays a set of data fields and relationships defined for said data fields; computer readable code configured to cause a computer to obtain an output hierarchy having a plurality of output levels, each of said plurality of output levels being associated with one or more interface components of an application interface; and computer readable code configured to cause a computer to use said relationships to assign a selected one of said data fields to one of said one or more interface components of one of said plurality of output levels of said output hierarchy, said computer readable code configured to cause a computer to use said relationships configured to traverse a table hierarchy to identify one of said plurality of output levels for said selected data field. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A system comprising:
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a set of data fields; one or more relationships defined for said data fields; a data palette configured to display said set of data fields and said one or more relationships defined for said data fields; an application interface having one or more interface components; an output hierarchy having a plurality of output levels, each of said plurality of output levels being associated with said one or more interface components of said application interface; and computer code configured to use said relationships to assign a selected one of said data fields to one of said one or more interface components of one of said plurality of output levels of said output hierarchy, wherein said computer code is further configured to traverse said table hierarchy to identify one of said plurality of output levels for said selected data field. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification