Method and system for in-place interaction with contained objects

A method in a computer system for dynamically integrating server resources with container resources of a container window environment, the container resources provided by a container application that manages a container object that contains a containee object, the server resources provided by a server application that manages the containee object, each resource having a behavior, the method comprising:

• requesting the server application to activate the containee object;
• receiving a request to augment a list of resources with container resources, the list being initialized by the server application with server resources to be displayed when the containee object is activated;
• in response to receiving the request to augment the list of resources, augmenting the list of resources with container resources to be displayed when the containee object is activated;
• receiving a request to display resources in the augmented list of resources;
• and
• in response to receiving the request to display the augmented list of resources, displaying the resources of the augmented list of resources
• wherein when a displayed server resource is selected, the server application is requested to perform the behavior associated with the selected server resource and when a displayed container resource is selected, the container application is requested to perform the behavior of the selected container resource.

A method in a computer system for dynamically integrating server resources of a server application window environment with container resources of a container application window environment, each resource having a behavior, the method comprising:

• initializing a list resources with server resources to be displayed when the containee object is activated;
• requesting the container application to augment the list of resources with the container resources;
• and
• after the container application has augmented the list, requesting the container application to display resources in the augmented list of resources
• wherein when a displayed server resource is selected, the server application is requested to perform the behavior associated with the selected server resource and when a displayed container resource is selected, the container application is requested to perform the behavior of the selected container resource.

A method in a computer system for dynamically integrating server resources of a server application window environment with container resources of a container application window environment, the method comprising:

• under control of the server application, identifying server resources to be displayed when a containee object is activated within a container object;
• under control of the container application,
• identifying container resources to be displayed when the containee object along with the identified server resources are displayed;
• and
• displaying the identified server resources and the identified container resources;
• when a displayed server resource is selected, sending to the server application an indication that a server resource has been selected;
• and
• when a displayed container resource is selected, sending to the container application an indication that a container resource has been selected.

A method in a computer system of activating a containee object contained within a container object, the container object having a container application with a container window environment, the container window environment having container resources for interacting with the container object, the containee object having a server application with server resources for interacting with the containee object, the method comprising:

• displaying the container window environment;
• displaying the containee object within the displayed container window environment;
• selecting the displayed containee object;
• receiving from the server application an indication of server resources for interacting with the selected containee object;
• and
• displaying the indicated server resources integrated with the displayed container window environment wherein when a user selects a displayed server resource, the server application processes the server resource selection and wherein when the user selects a container resource of the displayed container window environment, the container application processes the container resource selection.

A method in a computer system for dynamically integrating menus of a container application and a server application, the method comprising:

• assigning a set of menu groups to the container application, each menu group having a plurality of menu items;
• assigning a set of menu groups to the server application;
• executing the container application and the server application;
• under control of the container application,
• receiving from the server application an indication of the menu items for each menu group assigned to the server application;
• displaying the menu items of the menu groups assigned to the container application and the indicated menu items of the menu group assigned to the server application as a composite menu;
• selecting a menu item of a menu group of the displayed composite menu;
• and
• when the selected menu item is of a menu group assigned to the container application, invoking the container application to process the selected menu item;
• and
• when the selected menu item is of a menu group assigned to the server application, invoking the server application to process the selected menu item.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to dynamically integrate server resources with container resources of a container window environment, the container resources provided by a container that manages a container object that contains a containee object, the server resources provided by a server that manages the containee object, each resource having a behavior, by:

• requesting the server to activate the containee object;
• receiving a request to augment a list of resources with the container resources, the list being initialized by the server with server resources to be displayed when the containee object is activated;
• in response to receiving the request to augment the list of resources, augmenting the list of resources with container resources to be displayed when the containee object is activated;
• receiving a request to display resources in the augmented list of resources;
• and
• in response to receiving the request to display the augmented list of resources, displaying the resources of the augmented list of resources
• wherein when a displayed server resource is selected, the server is requested to perform the behavior associated with the selected server resource and when a displayed container resource is selected, the container is requested to perform the behavior of the selected container resource.

A computer system for dynamically integrating server resources of a server window environment with container resources of a container window environment, each resource having a behavior, comprising:

• a list resources with server of resources to be displayed when the containee object is activated;
• means for requesting the container to augment the list of resources with the container resources;
• and
• means for, after the container has augmented the list, requesting the container to display resources in the augmented list of resources
• wherein when a displayed server resource is selected, the server is requested to perform the behavior associated with the selected server resource and when a displayed container resource is selected, the container is requested to perform the behavior of the selected container resource.