Inheritable property shading system for three-dimensional rendering of user interface controls
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorJeffrey L. Bogdan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system that supports a uniform three-dimensional rendering of components on a display screen by allowing a new component to inherit the shading properties of a parent component. The system provides for escalation of a search for shading properties, including at least a baseline shading face color, from any one of a plurality of shading property sources that can include, but are not limited to, an expressly defined shading property, an inheritable property from a parent component, and a system property in an absence of any other shading property source. Consistent gradations of color shading that facilitate three-dimensional visual cues among a component family hierarchy are generated and rendered on the display screen based on a baseline shading face color.
Claims13
A method for obtaining shading properties for use in generating a display on a display screen of a computer system that includes a memory, a processor, a plurality of processes executable on said processor, and said display screen, said method comprising:
- requesting a display of a new component on said display screen by way of a display request from one of said plurality of processes;
- identifying baseline component display properties that defined display characteristics for said new component by way of an escalatable search through a plurality of display property sources in order of an expressly defined property in said display request first, an inheritable property of parent components second, and a system property third;
- calculating varying degrees of said baseline component display properties to enhance user observable three-dimensional visual cues of height and depth of said new component relative to a two-dimensional surface;
- and
- rendering said new component in response to said step of calculating.
A machine readable memory tangibly embodying instructions executable by a computer system to perform a method for shading a three-dimensional view of a given component on a display screen of said computer system, said method comprising:
- requesting a display of said given component on said display screen by way of a display request from a process in said computer system, wherein said display request can result in a display refresh of said given component;
- identifying a shading face color for said given component by way of an escalatable search of a plurality of shading property sources that include inheritable properties of a hierarchical relative of said given component, wherein if said shading face color is predefined then the escalatable search includes using the predefined shading face color, but if said shading face color is not predefined then the escalatable search includes using an inherited shading face color from a parent of the component;
- and
- rendering said given component on said display screen based on said shading face color.
An inheritable property shading system for use in three-dimensional rendering of a component on a display screen of a computer system, said system comprising:
- means for rendering a given component on said display screen based on at least one baseline shading property identified by way of an escalatable search of a plurality of shading property sources that include an inheritable property of a parent component;
- means for escalating said escalatable search of said plurality of shading property sources in order of an expressly defined property associated with said given component first, said inheritable property of said parent component second, and a system property third;
- means for calculating varying degrees of said at least one baseline shading property to enhance user observable three-dimensional visual cues of height and depth of said given component relative to a two-dimensional surface;
- and
- means for rendering said given component in response to said means for calculating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.