Method and system for merging menus of application programs

A method in a computer system for merging a container menu of a container application with a server menu of a server application, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• determining whether the container menu corresponds to the server menu;
• when the container menu corresponds to the server menu,
• creating a combined menu;
• adding the container menu as a sub-menu of the combined menu;
• and
• adding the server menu as a sub-menu of the combined menu.

A method in a computer system for merging a container menu of a container application and a server menu of a server application, the container application having a container object and a container window environment, the container application having an associated merged menu list, the server application having a containee object which is contained within the container object, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• displaying the container window environment;
• displaying the containee object within the displayed container window environment;
• activating the displayed containee object;
• and
• in response to activating the displayed containee object,
• generating a combined menu and adding the generated combined menu to the merged menu list;
• adding the container menu as a container sub-menu of the combined menu and the server menu as a server sub-menu of the combined menu in the merged menu list;
• and
• displaying the merged menu list.

A method in a computer system for merging container menus of a container application with server menus of a server application into a merged menu list, the merged menu list having container menu groups and server menu groups, the container application having a container object and a container window environment, the server application having a containee object which is contained within the container object, the computer system having a menu merging protocol for enabling the container application to add container menus to the container menu groups of the merged menu list and for enabling a server application to add server menus to the server menu groups of the merged menu list, wherein when a container menu corresponds to a server menu, the menu merging protocol allows the server application to add its corresponding server menu to the merged menu list but does not allow the container application to add its corresponding container menu to the merged menu list, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• displaying the container window environment;
• displaying the containee object within the displayed container window environment;
• activating the displayed containee object;
• and
• in response to activating the displayed containee object,
• requesting at the server application that the container application add container menus to the merged menu list;
• under control of the container application,
• generating a combined menu;
• adding the generated combined menu to the merged menu list;
• adding the corresponding container menu as a container sub-menu of the added combined menu;
• and
• adding container menus other than the corresponding container menu to the merged menu list;
• under control of the server application,
• determining whether the container application added a combined menu to the merged menu list;
• when it is determined that the container application added a combined menu to the merged menu list, adding the corresponding server menu as a server sub-menu of the added combined menu in the merged menu list;
• when it is determined that the container application has not added a combined menu to the merged menu list, adding the corresponding server menu to the merged menu list;
• and
• adding server menus other than the corresponding server menu to the merged menu list;
• requesting at the server application that the container application display the merged menu list;
• under control of the container application,
• determining whether the server application added the corresponding server menu as a server sub-menu to the combined menu;
• when it is determined that the server application has not added a corresponding server menu as a server sub-menu to the combined menu,
• removing the combined menu from the merged menu list;
• and
• displaying the merged menu list;
• when it is determined that the server application has added a server menu as a server sub-menu to the combined menu, displaying the merged menu list;
• and
• installing dispatching code for processing a menu selection;
• and
• after displaying the merged menu list, when the combined menu is selected from the displayed merged menu list,
• displaying the container sub-menu of the combined menu and the server sub-menu of the combined menu;
• when the displayed container sub-menu is selected, invoking the container application to process the selected container sub-menu;
• and
• when the displayed server sub-menu is selected, invoking the server application to process the selected server sub-menu.

A computer system for merging a container menu of a container application and a server menu of a server application, the container application having a container object and a container window environment, the container application having an associated merged menu list, the server application having a containee object which is contained within the container object, the system comprising:

• means for displaying the container window environment;
• means for displaying the containee object within the displayed container window environment;
• means for activating the displayed containee object;
• and
• means for, in response to activating the displayed containee object,
• generating a combined menu and adding the generated combined menu to the merged menu list;
• adding the container menu as a container sub-menu of the combined menu in the merged menu list;
• adding the server menu as a server sub-menu of the combined menu in the merged menu list;
• and
• displaying the merged menu list.

A method in a computer system for generating a merged menu list for container menus of a container application and server menus of a server application, the merged menu list having container menu groups and server menu groups, the container menus having container menu items, the server menus having server menu items, the container application having a container object and a container window environment, the server application having a containee object which is contained within the container object, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• displaying the container window environment;
• displaying the containee object within the displayed container window environment;
• activating the displayed containee object;
• and
• in response to activating the displayed containee object,
• when a container menu corresponds to a server menu,
• generating a combined menu;
• determining whether to add the generated combined menu to one of the container menu groups or one of the server menu groups;
• adding the generated combined menu to the determined one of the menu groups in the merged menu list;
• when it is determined that the combined menu is to be added to one of the container menu groups,
• adding the container menu items in the container menu to the added combined menu in the merged menu list;
• and
• adding the server menu as a server sub-menu of the added combined menu in the merged menu list;
• and
• when it is determined that the combined menu is to be added to one of the server menu groups,
• adding the server menu items in the server menu to the added combined menu in the merged menu list;
• and
• adding the container menu as a container sub-menu of the added combined menu in the merged menu list.