Application development environment with features for aiding a user in writing function calls

• US 7,761,859 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2004
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Low, Jared L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kendall; Chuck O
• Application Number:
  US11/003,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20060036996A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,055 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/140
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/33 Intelligent editors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

One embodiment of the invention comprises a system and method for aiding a user in specifying function parameter values in a computer program. An application development environment (ADE) may be operable to display parameter assistant user interfaces for aiding the user in specifying various function parameter values.

Another embodiment of the invention comprises a system and method for automatically declaring variables passed as parameters in function calls.

Claims

1. A computer-readable memory medium for creating a computer program, the computer-readable memory medium storing program instructions executable to:

in source code of the computer program, display a first function call written in a programming language that can be compiled into executable code, wherein the first function call takes a first parameter;

in response to detecting that a cursor is positioned within the first function call, display a GUI element corresponding to the first parameter;

in response to receiving user input to the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter, display a graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter; and

in response to user input to the graphical user interface selecting a parameter value for the first parameter, automatically modify the first function call displayed in the source code by inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.

2. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter comprises displaying the GUI element within a source code window for the computer program, wherein the source code is displayed in the source code window.

3. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first function call is displayed in a source code window for the computer program;

wherein said displaying the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter comprises displaying the GUI element in the source code window proximal to the first function call.

4. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

display a function prototype for the first function call, wherein the function prototype is formatted according to the programming language;

wherein said displaying the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter comprises displaying the GUI element within the function prototype for the first function call.

5. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 4,

wherein said displaying the function prototype for the first function call comprises displaying the function prototype in a source code window for the computer program, wherein the source code is displayed in the source code window;

wherein said displaying the GUI element within the function prototype comprises displaying the GUI element within the function prototype in the source code window.

6. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 5,

wherein said displaying the function prototype in the source code window comprises displaying the function prototype in the source code window proximal to the first function call;

wherein the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter is displayed in the source code window proximal to the first function call.

7. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 5,

wherein said displaying the function prototype for the first function in the source code window comprises displaying the function prototype with a visual appearance to distinguish the function prototype from the source code of the computer program.

8. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 4,

wherein said detecting that the cursor is positioned within the first function call is performed in response to receiving user input requesting function prototype information to be displayed;

wherein said displaying the function prototype for the first function call comprises displaying the function prototype for the first function call in response to said detecting that the cursor is positioned within the first function call.

9. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter comprises displaying the graphical user interface embedded directly within a source code window for the computer program, wherein the source code is displayed in the source code window.

10. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter comprises displaying a user interface dialog for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter.

11. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter comprises displaying a window for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter.

12. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first parameter has a set of possible parameter values;

wherein the graphical user interface displays the set of possible parameter values;

wherein the user input to the graphical user interface selecting the parameter value for the first parameter comprises user input selecting the parameter value from the set of possible parameter values.

13. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first parameter represents an object;

wherein the graphical user interface enables a user to view object names;

wherein the user input to the graphical user interface selecting the parameter value for the first parameter comprises user input selecting a first object name; and

wherein said inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call comprises inserting the first object name in the first function call.

14. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first parameter represents a file;

wherein the graphical user interface enables a user to view file names;

wherein the user input to the graphical user interface selecting the parameter value for the first parameter comprises user input selecting a first file name; and

wherein said inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call comprises inserting the first file name in the first function call.

15. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the first parameter represents a uniform resource locator (URL);

wherein the graphical user interface enables a user to view URLs;

wherein the user input to the graphical user interface selecting the parameter value for the first parameter comprises user input selecting a first URL; and

wherein said inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call comprises inserting the first URL in the first function call.

16. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

dynamically determine a set of valid parameter values for the first parameter;

wherein the graphical user interface displays the dynamically determined set of valid parameter values;

wherein the user input to the graphical user interface selecting the parameter value for the first parameter comprises user input selecting a parameter value from the set of valid parameter values.

17. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 16,

wherein said dynamically determining the set of valid parameter values for the first parameter comprises dynamically determining the set of valid parameter values based on one or more of:

a current configuration of a computer system;

a type of a device coupled to a computer system;

a current configuration of a device coupled to a computer system; and

/or

a current state of data stored in a file.

18. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 16,

wherein the first parameter has a set of possible parameter values;

wherein said dynamically determining the set of valid parameter values for the first parameter comprises determining a subset of valid parameter values from the set of possible parameter values;

wherein the subset of valid parameter values does not include all parameter values from the set of possible parameter values;

wherein the graphical user interface prevents a user from selecting a parameter value that is in the set of possible parameter values but not in the subset of valid parameter values.

19. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 16,

wherein said dynamically determining the set of valid parameter values for the first parameter comprises dynamically determining the set of valid parameter values based on the source code in the computer program.

20. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 16,

wherein the first function call also takes a second parameter, wherein displaying the first function call comprises displaying within the first function call parameter value for the second parameter;

wherein said dynamically determining the set of valid parameter values for the first parameter comprises dynamically determining the set of valid parameter values based on the parameter value for the second parameter displayed within the first function call.

21. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter has a graphical appearance that visually indicates to a user that user input to the GUI element causes the graphical user interface for selecting the parameter value for the first parameter to be displayed.

22. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 1,

wherein the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter comprises a button.

23. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 22,

wherein said receiving user input to the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter comprises receiving a click from an input device to the button.

24. A method comprising:

in source code of a computer program, displaying a first function call written in a programming language that can be compiled into executable code, wherein the first function call takes a first parameter;

in response to detecting that a cursor is positioned within the first function call, displaying a GUI element corresponding to the first parameter;

in response to receiving user input to the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter, displaying a graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter; and

in response to user input to the graphical user interface selecting a parameter value for the first parameter, automatically modifying the first function call displayed in the source code by inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.

25. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

a display device; and

memory storing program instructions;

wherein the program instructions are executable by the one or more processors to;

in source code of a computer program, display a first function call written in a programming language that can be compiled into executable code, wherein the first function call takes a first parameter;

in response to detecting that a cursor is positioned within the first function call, display a GUI element corresponding to the first parameter on the display device;

in response to receiving user input to the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter, display a graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter on the display device; and

in response to user input to the graphical user interface selecting a parameter value for the first parameter, automatically modify the first function call displayed in the source code by inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.

26. A computer-readable memory medium for creating a computer program, the computer-readable memory medium storing program instructions executable to:

in source code of the computer program, display a first function call written in a programming language that can be compiled into executable code, wherein the first function call takes a first parameter;

display a function prototype for the first function call;

display a GUI element corresponding to the first parameter of the first function call within the function prototype for the first function call, wherein the GUI element has a graphical appearance visually indicating that user input to the GUI element causes a graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter to be displayed;

in response to receiving user input to the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter, display the graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter; and

in response to user input to the graphical user interface selecting a parameter value for the first parameter, automatically modify the first function call displayed in the source code by inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.

27. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

a display device; and

memory storing program instructions;

wherein the program instructions are executable by the one or more processors to;

in source code of a computer program, display a first function call written in a programming language that can be compiled into executable code, wherein the first function call takes a first parameter;

display on the display device a function prototype for the first function call;

display on the display device a GUI element corresponding to the first parameter of the first function call within the function prototype for the first function call, wherein the GUI element has a graphical appearance visually indicating that user input to the GUI element causes a graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter to be displayed;

in response to receiving user input to the GUI element corresponding to the first parameter, display on the display device the graphical user interface for selecting a parameter value for the first parameter; and

in response to user input to the graphical user interface selecting a parameter value for the first parameter, automatically modify the first function call displayed in the source code by inserting the selected parameter value for the first parameter in the first function call, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.

28. A computer-readable memory medium for creating a computer program, the computer-readable memory medium storing program instructions executable to:

detect that a cursor of a source code window displaying source code of the computer program is positioned on a first parameter in a first function call, wherein the first parameter in the first function call comprises an undeclared variable;

receive user input requesting a variable declaration for the undeclared variable to be automatically added to the source code of the computer program;

determine a first location in the source code to insert the variable declaration for the undeclared variable in response to the user input; and

automatically insert the variable declaration for the undeclared variable at the first location in the source code, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.

29. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 28,

wherein the first parameter has a first data type;

wherein said automatically inserting the variable declaration for the undeclared variable comprises automatically inserting a variable declaration to declare a variable of the first data type.

30. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 29, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

analyze a function prototype for the first function call to determine that the first parameter has the first data type.

31. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 28,

wherein the first parameter has a data type that can vary;

wherein the program instructions are further executable to determine a first data type for the variable declaration based on one or more values of one or more parameters in the first function call other than the first parameter;

wherein said automatically inserting the variable declaration for the undeclared variable comprises automatically inserting a variable declaration to declare a variable of the first data type.

32. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 28, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

prompt the user to select a first data type for the variable declaration;

wherein said automatically inserting the variable declaration for the undeclared variable comprises automatically inserting a variable declaration to declare a variable of the first data type selected by the user.

33. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 28,

wherein the first parameter of the first function has a first array data type;

wherein the program instructions are further executable to prompt the user to specify a number of array elements for the variable declaration;

wherein said automatically inserting the variable declaration for the undeclared variable comprises automatically inserting a variable declaration to declare an array having the specified number of array elements.

34. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 28,

wherein the cursor is located within a first program block;

wherein said determining the first location to insert the variable declaration comprises one or more of;

determining a location at the beginning of the first program block to insert the variable declaration;

or

determining a location near the beginning of the first program block to insert the variable declaration.

35. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 28,

wherein said receiving user input requesting the variable declaration for the undeclared variable to be automatically added to the computer program comprises one of:

receiving user input comprising a hotkey keystroke;

or

receiving user input selecting a menu item.

36. A method comprising:

detecting that a cursor of a source code window displaying source code of a computer program is positioned on a first parameter in a first function call, wherein the first parameter in the first function call comprises an undeclared variable;

receiving user input requesting a variable declaration for the undeclared variable to be automatically added to the source code of the computer program;

determining a first location in the source code to insert the variable declaration for the undeclared variable in response to the user input; and

automatically inserting the variable declaration for the undeclared variable at the first location in the source code, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.

37. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory medium storing program instructions;

wherein the processor is operable to execute the program instructions to;

detect that a cursor of a source code window displaying source code of a computer program is positioned on a first parameter in a first function call, wherein the first parameter in the first function call comprises an undeclared variable;

receive user input requesting a variable declaration for the undeclared variable to be automatically added to the source code of the computer program;

determine a first location in the source code to insert the variable declaration for the undeclared variable in response to the user input; and

automatically insert the variable declaration for the undeclared variable at the first location in the source code, wherein said inserting modifies the source code.