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US 2008/0189612 A1Published application
Using unique help utility identifier as parameter in application to facilitate extraction of help tutorial from library
AssigneesSony Corporation, Sony Electronics Inc.
InventorsGuoxuan Zhang, Tom Lam, Tam Dao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Plural guided help utilities are provided in a library and accessed using unique identifiers to guide a user in a “show me” mode or “do it” mode through help instructions.
Claims17
A method, comprising:
- generating at least one guided help utility for an associated software application to be run on a computer operating system, the help utility including a “show me” option and a “do it” option, wherein if the “show me” option is selected the help utility leads a user through a task step-by-step, allowing the user to complete a task for which help is sought, and wherein if the “do it” option is selected a computer processor automatically executes the task, pausing only when the user must make a choice;
- associating a unique identifier with the guided help utility to facilitate accessing the utility through the associated software application;
- passing the unique identifier through as a parameter in the source code of the associated software application;
- and
- invoking the help utility in response to a user selection.
2 more elements
A tangible computer readable medium usable by a processor to execute logic comprising:
- receiving a user command to access a help utility;
- using a unique identifier of the help utility, retrieving the help utility from a library of help utilities stored on a user computer;
- and
- instantiating an instance of the help utility retrieved from the library.
1 more element
A method for providing plural help utilities in a library of a user computer, comprising:
- generating the help utilities, each having an associated software application to be run on an operating system of the user computer, at least one of the help utilities including a “show me” option and a “do it” option, wherein if the “show me” option is selected the help utility leads a user through a task step-by-step, allowing the user to complete a task for which help is sought, and wherein if the “do it” option is selected a computer processor automatically executes the task, pausing only when the user must make a choice;
- associating unique identifiers with respective help utilities to facilitate accessing a utility through its associated software application;
- passing a unique identifier through as a parameter in source code of the associated software application;
- and
- invoking the help utility in response to a user selection.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.