Technique for graphical user interface modification

• US 7,386,835 B1
• Filed: 03/22/2002
• Issued: 06/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Desai, Munish T., Gruttadauria, Brian R., Bauer, Andreas L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kiss; Eric B
• Application Number:
  US10/104,146
• Time in Patent Office: 2,272 Days
• Field of Search: 717/104, 717/105, 717/107, 717/117, 715/513, 715/760
• US Class Current: 717/117
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A technique for easily making modifications to a graphical user interface (GUI). XML files each containing different rules for making a tree display are easily written by code developers. The files are merged into a document object model (DOM) stored in memory. The GUI display presentation can thus be easily updated by the code developers by modifying the rules stored in the DOM by merging additional XML files containing rule additions, deletions and/or modifications into the DOM. The DOM is parsed for certain object classes for which object instances are needed. The object instances having certain display properties are retrieved from the system or network with which the GUI is operative and are combined with certain display attributes or display rules stored in the DOM. The object instances including their display properties and attributes are returned to the GUI to be displayed on the terminal screen in accordance therewith.

Claims

1. In a computer network including at least a computer memory and a graphical user interface (GUI) including GUI code for displaying one of a node tree, a node map and a node pie chart, a method for enabling a code developer to readily modify appearance of said one of said node tree, said node map and said node pie chart, respectively, said method comprising:

establishing a document object model (DOM) in said memory from a single basic rule file, said rule file including features and enabling said appearance;

establishing a plurality of different rule files functionally isolated from said DOM said plurality of different rule files being established in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said different rule files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said different rule files;

receiving, into each of said plurality of rule files, modification to said one of said node tree, said node map and said node pie chart, respectively, from said developer as particular code;

establishing a merge engine functionally isolated from said DOM;

parsing said particular code from at least one of said different rule files in said merge engine to obtain at least one of said different rule files parsed particular code;

said merge engine writing a representation of said at least one of said different rule files parsed particular code into said DOM as merged tree rules, merged map rules or merged pie chart rules, respectively;

determining certain of said merged tree rules, said merged map rules or said merged pie chart rules, respectively to be read;

obtaining particular node information in accordance with said certain of said merged tree rules, said merged map rules or said merged pie chart rules, respectively; and

,

supplying said particular node information to said GUI to modify said appearance of said one of said node tree, said node map and said node pie chart, respectively in accordance with said certain of said merged tree rules, said merged map rules or said merged pie chart rules, respectively;

wherein said particular code is written in XML and said GUI code is written in a non-XML, object-oriented computer language.

2. The method of claim 1 and wherein said DOM is manifested in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

providing a special case handler;

said certain of said merged tree rules including an attribute invoking said special case handler; and

,

obtaining said particular node information by way of said special case handler.

4. The method of claim 3 and wherein code for said special case handler is written in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing a special case handler;

said certain of said merged tree rules including an attribute invoking said special case handler; and

,

obtaining said particular node information by way of said special case handler.

6. A method for controlling a user display capable of displaying subsets of a plurality of objects, said display based on both underlying fixed code structure in a non-XML, object-oriented computer language and modifiable rules which operate with said fixed code structure to change said display, said method comprising:

establishing a document object model (DOM) from a single basic rule file, said file including features and enabling said display;

establishing, in a plurality of rules files functionally isolated from said DOM and in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said rules files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said rules files, a plurality of said rules governing relationships between each of said plurality of objects and certain of said plurality of objects;

determining, at least through operation of said DOM, certain of said plurality of rules to be used in effectuating said change;

responsive to said determining, retrieving other certain of said plurality of objects; and

,

using said non-XML, object-oriented computer language, presenting said other certain of said plurality of objects in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language to said user display in a manner to effectuate said change.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

modifying said plurality of rules in a manner to effect operation of said retrieving to retrieve yet other certain of said plurality of objects; and

,

presenting said yet other certain of said plurality objects to said display in a different manner to effectuate a different change.

8. The method of claim 7 and wherein said rules establishing comprises:

establishing at least a basic XML file containing said plurality of rules;

establishing a merge engine functionally isolated from said DOM, and,

said merge engine converting said plurality of rules into a representation of each of said plurality of rules and writing said representation into said document object model.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

providing additions, deletions, and/or modifications to at least a portion of said plurality of rules contained in said basic file in additional XML files in ordered sequence;

converting and merging each one of said additional XML files with said representation sequentially to obtain a plurality of merged files in a manner that only said additions, deletions and/or modifications to said each one of said additional XML files is merged with the immediately previous one of said plurality of merged files starting with said basic file and continuing with said each one of said additional XML files in said ordered sequence until all said additional XML files have been merged into a composite merged file.

10. The method of claim 8 and wherein said certain rules determining comprises:

receiving a request from a user;

reading said representation; and

,

comparing said request with said representation of said plurality of rules to obtain a representation of said certain of said plurality of rules.

11. The method of claim 10 and wherein said other certain of said objects retrieving comprises:

calling one of said other certain of said objects.

12. The method of claim 11 and wherein said calling further comprises:

directly obtaining said one of said other certain of said objects if said certain of said plurality of rules is specified by a first attribute;

providing a special case handler; and

,

invoking said special case handler to obtain said one of said other certain of said objects if said certain of said plurality of rules is specified by a second attribute.

13. A method for making modification to a GUI controlling a display of no greater than a first plurality of objects, said display being based on underlying code structure as modified by rules stored in a composite merged file, said modification being made by modifying said rules without modifying said underlying code structure, said method comprising:

establishing a document object model (DOM) from a single basic rule file, said file including features and enabling said display;

establishing a second plurality of rule files functionally isolated from said DOM in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said rule files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said rule files;

establishing in said ordered sequence in a first language a like second plurality of different sets of rules governing relationships between certain of said first plurality of objects, each one of said sets of rules contained respectively within one of said second plurality of rule files in said ordered sequence;

converting said like second plurality of different sets of rules from said first language to respective sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations of said like second plurality of different sets of rules;

writing each of said sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations into said document object model; and

,

merging the next successive one of said each of said sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations with said each of said sets of JAVA language representations until all of said sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations have been merged into said composite merged file;

whereby, after performing said converting, said writing and said merging, said modification is made to said GUI in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language without modifying said underlying code structure.

14. The method of claim 13 and wherein said first language is XML.

15. A method for controlling a user GUI display comprising:

establishing a document object model (DOM) from a single basic rule file, said file including features and enabling said display;

providing a plurality of files functionally isolated from said DOM in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said files;

writing modifiable display rules into said plurality of files;

reading each one of said files to obtain a corresponding converted file in a non-XML, object-oriented computer language and merging each said corresponding converted file with its immediately previous said converted file into said DOM to obtain a composite merged file in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language;

reading said composite merged file to obtain certain of said rules controlling change to said display; and

,

supplying at least said certain of said rules to said GUI in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language to control said change to said display.

16. The method of claim 15 and wherein:

said plurality of files are XML files;

said display is selected to be a node tree display;

said change is an expansion to the tree of said tree display from a local root node in said tree display; and

,

said certain of said rules correspond to objects stored in said DOM located in positions selected from the group of positions consisting of those corresponding to said local root node and to descendents of said local root node.

17. A computer program product for making modification to a GUI controlling a display of no greater than a first plurality of objects, said display being based on underlying code structure as modified by rules stored in a composite merged file, said modification being made by modifying said rules without modifying said underlying code structure, said computer program product including a machine-readable storage medium having computer readable program code thereon, said computer program code comprising:

program code for establishing a document object model (DOM) from a single basic rule file, said file including features and enabling said display;

program code for establishing a second plurality of rule files functionally isolated from said DOM in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said rule files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said rule files;

program code for establishing in said ordered sequence in a first language a like second plurality of different sets of rules governing relationships between certain of said first plurality of objects, each one of said sets of rules contained respectively within one of said second plurality of rule files in said ordered sequence;

program code, operative in said ordered sequence, for converting said like second plurality of different sets of rules from said first language to respective sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations of said like second plurality of different sets of rules;

program code, operative concurrently with operation of said converting program code, for writing each of said sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations into said document object model; and

,

program code for merging the next successive one of said each of said sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations with said each of said sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations until all of said sets of non-XML, object-oriented computer language representations have been merged into said composite merged file;

whereby, after execution of said program code for converting, said program code for writing and said program code for merging, said modification is made to said GUI in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language without modifying said underlying code structure.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 and wherein said first language is XML.

19. A computer program product for controlling a user GUI display, said computer program product including a machine-readable storage medium having computer readable program code thereon, said program code comprising:

program code for establishing a document object model (DOM) from a single basic rule file, said file including features and enabling said display;

program code for establishing a plurality of files in XML functionally isolated from said DOM in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said files includes said basic rule file and all XML statements of all previous ones of said files;

program code for writing modifiable display rules in XML into said plurality of files;

program code, operative in the order in which said files were written, for both reading each one of said files to obtain a corresponding converted file in a non-XML, object-oriented computer language and merging each said corresponding converted file with its immediately previous said converted file into said DOM to obtain a composite merged file in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language;

program code, responsive to said user requesting change to said display, for reading said composite merged file to obtain certain of said rules controlling change to said display; and

,

program code for supplying at least said certain of said rules to said GUI in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language to control said change to said display.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 and wherein:

said display is selected to be said node tree display;

said change is an expansion to the tree of said tree display from a local root node in said tree display; and

,

said certain of said rules correspond to objects stored in said DOM located in positions selected from the group of positions consisting of those corresponding to said local root node and to descendents of said local root node.

21. A system for controlling a user GUI display comprising:

a document object model (DOM) established from a single basic rule file, said file including features and enabling said display;

a plurality of files functionally isolated from said DOM and prepared in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said files;

system component for writing modifiable display rules into said plurality of files;

system component, operative in the order in which said files were written, for both reading each one of said files to obtain a corresponding converted file in a non-XML, object-oriented computer language and merging each said corresponding converted file with its immediately previous said converted file into said DOM to obtain a composite merged file in non-XML, object-oriented computer language;

system component, responsive to said user requesting change to said display, for reading said composite merged file to obtain certain of said rules controlling change to said display; and

,

system component for supplying at least said certain of said rules to said GUI in said non-XML, object-oriented computer language to control said change to said display.

22. The system of claim 21 and wherein:

said plurality of files are XML files;

said display is selected to be said node tree display;

said change is an expansion to the tree of said tree display from a local root node in said tree display; and

,

said certain of said rules correspond to objects stored in said DOM located in positions selected from the group of positions consisting of those corresponding to said local root node and to descendents of said local root node.

23. A method for modifying a GUI node tree display, said method comprising the following steps starting with step (a):

(a) providing a single basic rule file including features, said file constructed as a hierarchy of nodes and containing code for use in controlling said GUI to provide said tree display;

(b) providing additional rule files in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said additional rule files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said additional rule files, each one of said additional rule files being constructed similarly to said basic rule file and containing additional code for use in controlling said GUI to modify said tree display, certain of said additional rule files to be merged with said basic rule file to obtain a merged basic rule file;

(c) for each one of said additional rule files, parsing said additional code for nodes that contain a particular XML attribute;

(d) for each one of said nodes containing said attribute, determining if there is a matching attribute in a node in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file at a tree depth of said hierarchy equal to tree depth of said one of said nodes;

(e) if said matching attribute is not found, merging said one of said nodes at said tree depth into said basic or said merged basic file to obtain a composite merged file;

(f) writing said composite merged file into a document object model (DOM) in memory; and

(g) using said DOM to modify said tree display.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

(h) if said matching attribute is found, determining if there are other attributes for said one of said nodes in said additional rule file;

(i) if there are said other attributes, determining if any of said other attributes are different from attributes at said tree depth in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file; and

(j) if said any of said other attributes are not different from said attributes at said tree depth in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file, not merging said any of said other attributes that are not different from said attributes.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

(k) if said any of said other attributes are different from said attributes at said tree depth in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file, merging said any of said other attributes into said basic file or said merged basic file to obtain said composite merged file.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

(l) if there are not said other attributes, determining if there are any child nodes of said one of said nodes containing said attribute; and

(m) if there are said any child nodes of said one of said nodes containing said attribute, repeating steps (d)-(m) in the order given.

27. The method of claim 23 wherein nodeId=“

_”

is said particular XML attribute, where “

_”

is value of said particular attribute.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said value of said particular attribute is selected from the group of values consisting of:

Storage Systems Folder, Subsystem, LUNs Folder, LUN, Disks Folder, Clones Folder, and Physical Folder.

29. A computer program product for modifying a GUI node tree display, said computer program product including a machine-readable storage medium having computer readable program code thereon, said computer program code comprising:

program code (a) for providing a single basic rule file including features, said file constructed as a hierarchy of nodes and containing code for use in controlling said GUI to provide said tree display;

program code (b) for providing additional rule files in an ordered sequence wherein each one of said additional rule files includes said basic rule file and all content of all previous ones of said additional rule files, each one of said additional rule files being constructed similarly to said basic rule file and containing additional code for use in controlling said GUI to modify said tree display, certain of said additional rule files to be merged with said basic rule file to obtain a merged basic rule file;

for each one of said additional rule files, program code (c) for parsing said additional code for nodes that contain a particular XML attribute;

for each one of said nodes containing said attribute, program code (d) for determining if there is a matching attribute in a node in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file at a tree depth of said hierarchy equal to tree depth of said one of said nodes;

if said matching attribute is not found, program code (e) for merging said one of said nodes at said tree depth into said basic or said merged basic file to obtain a composite merged file;

program code (f) for writing said composite merged file into a document object model (DOM) in memory; and

program code (g) for using said DOM to modify said tree display.

30. The computer program code of claim 29 further comprising:

if said matching attribute is found, program code (h) determining if there are other attributes for said one of said nodes in said additional rule file;

if there are said other attributes, program code (i) for determining if any of said other attributes are different from attributes at said tree depth in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file; and

if said any of said other attributes are not different from said attributes at said tree depth in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file, program code (j) for not merging said any of said other attributes that are not different from said attributes.

31. The computer program code of claim 30, further comprising:

if said any of said other attributes are different from said attributes at said tree depth in said basic rule file or said merged basic rule file, program code (k) for merging said any of said other attributes into said basic file or said merged basic file to obtain said composite merged file.

32. The computer program code of claim 30, further comprising:

if there are not said other attributes, computer program code (l) for determining if there are any child nodes of said one of said nodes containing said attribute; and

if there are said any child nodes of said one of said nodes containing said attribute, program code (m) for re-running program codes (d)-(m) in the order given, subject to any respective condition associated with each of said program codes (d)-(m).

33. The computer program code of claim 29 wherein nodeId=“

_”

is said particular XML attribute, where “

_”

is value of said particular attribute.

34. The computer program code of claim 33 wherein said value of said particular attribute is selected from the group of values consisting of:

Storage Systems Folder, Subsystem, LUNs Folder, LUN, Disks Folder, Clones Folder, and Physical Folder.

35. A method, comprising:

establishing a document object model (DOM) of rules from a single basic rule file, said file enabling a user interface display and including features for said display;

thereafter, establishing an ordered sequence of different rule files, each one of said different rule files including all content of all previous ones of said rule files and content of said basic rule file;

reading said each one of said different rule files in said ordered sequence to obtain a representation of said each one of said different rule files;

writing each said representation in said ordered sequence into said DOM and thereby merging said each said representation with each previous said representation to obtain a sequentially-merged composite representation of said each one of said different rule files; and

utilizing each one of said sequentially-merged composite representations to modify said display in said ordered sequence.

36. A computer program product for making modification to a user interface, said computer program product including a machine-readable storage medium having computer readable code thereon, said computer program code comprising:

program code for establishing a document object model (DOM) of rules from a single basic rule file, said file enabling a user interface display and including features for said display;

program code for establishing an ordered sequence of different rule files, each one of said different rule files including all content of all previous ones of said rule files and content of said basic rule file;

program code for reading said each one of said different rule files in said ordered sequence to obtain a representation of said each one of said different rule files;

program code for writing each said representation in said ordered sequence into said DOM and thereby merging said each said representation with each previous said representation to obtain a sequentially-merged composite representation of said each one of said different rule files; and

program code for utilizing each one of said sequentially-merged composite representations to modify said display in said ordered sequence.