Logical representation of a user interface form
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorsEric B. Beran, Jens Moller-Pedersen, Peter Sloth, Uffe Kjall
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
User interface (UI) forms are rendered on different types of display targets. To generate a UI form that can be rendered on different types of display targets metadata stored in at least one application is transformed to build a logical user interface (UI) representation. The UI form is rendered on at least one of the different types of display targets based on the logical UI representation. Data and form layout from the at least one application is accessed for representation in the logical UI representation. The rendered UI form is populated with the data represented in the logical UI representation to provide content for the rendered UI form.
Claims18
A computer-implemented method of constructing a logical user interface (UI) representation for use in rendering a user interface (UI) form, the computer-implemented method comprising:
- initiating a session to validate credentials of a user, instantiate a builder to transform metadata stored in at least one application to construct the logical UI representation and notify at least one display target when the UI form is ready to be rendered by raising an event, the builder configured to:
- create at least one databinder module having a plurality of databinders configured to represent application data from the at least one application, after the data is represented in the at least one databinder module the represented data are independent of the at least one application that the data originated from and are used to populate the UI form such that the user can interact with the represented data and the UI form can be updated accordingly;
- create an actions module having a plurality of actions configured to represent operations available to a user found in application logic of the at least one application, after the operations are represented in the created actions module the represented operations are independent of the at least one application that the operations originated from and are used to populate the UI form such that the user can interact with the represented operations and the UI form can be updated accordingly;
- and
- create a logical forms and controls module configured to represent an interface between the at least one display target and the at least one databinder module and the actions module, the logical controls and forms module handles user interaction with the at least one display target and is independent of a type of a display target where the UI form is rendered.
A computer-implemented method of generating a user interface (UI) form that can be rendered on different types of display targets, the computer-implemented method comprising:
- initiating a session to validate credentials of a user, to instantiate a builder to transform metadata stored in at least one application to build a logical user interface (UI) representation and notify at least one display target when the UI form is ready to be rendered by raising an event, the logical UI representation including a first portion in communication with the different types of display targets and a second portion in communication with the at least one application, the second portion configured to represent application data from the at least one application, after the data is represented in the second portion the represented data are independent of the at least one application;
- rendering a UI form on at least one of the different types of display targets based on the logical UI representation using the first portion of the logical UI representation;
- accessing data represented in the logical UI representation from the second portion of the logical UI representation;
- and
- populating the rendered UI form using the represented data in the second portion of the logical UI representation to provide content for the rendered UI form such that the user can interact with the represented data and the UI form can be updated accordingly.
A system for generating a user interface (UI) form, the system comprising:
- a display target;
- a computer storage medium configured to store at least one application including an application source and metadata, wherein the application source includes application data;
- a logical client configured to build a logical user interface (UI) representation from the metadata stored in the at least one application upon the display target initiating a session with the logical client to validate credentials of a user, to instantiate a builder to transform the metadata stored in at least one application to construct the logical UI representation and notify at least one display target when the UI form is ready to be rendered by raising an event, the logical UI representation configured to represent the application data from the at least one application, after the data is represented in the second portion the represented data are independent of the at least one application;
- and
- wherein the at least one display target is configured to render the UI form based on the logical UI representation and to populate the rendered UI form using the represented data such that the user can interact with the represented data and the UI form can be updated accordingly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.