Method, system and computer program product for facilitating the prototyping and previewing of dynamic interactive graphical design widget state transitions in an interactive documentation environment

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions configured to be executed by a processor to provide an interactive graphical design environment, the instructions comprising:

• initiating a documentation within the interactive graphical design environment;
• receiving a documentation element addition command to add a documentation element to the initiated documentation within the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the documentation element is added to the documentation via a drag-and-drop operation between a toolbar and a design window of the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the documentation element is executed by the processor operating in combination with the non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• initiating an interactive graphical design within the interactive graphical design environment;
• receiving a design element selection command to select a design element to be displayed in the initiated interactive graphical design within the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the design element in the interactive graphical design that has been preprogrammed to display a plurality of states when the interactive graphical design is rendered in an external player, wherein the design element is executed by the processor operating in combination with the non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• linking the documentation element and the design element such that the documentation element displays a representation of the design element, wherein the documentation element captures information regarding the design element and provides a representation of the design element based on that information, wherein the representation of the design element is an image of the design element;
• receiving a configuration of an action in a documentation element state display interface in the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the action includes at least one event handler, wherein execution of the action when the interactive graphical design is rendered in the player places the design element in a state from the plurality of states;
• and
• displaying, after receiving the configuration of the action in the documentation element state display interface, the representation of the design element in the state, wherein the representation of the design element is placed in the state by applying the action.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions and configured to be executed by a processor to execute a documentation tool within an interactive graphical design environment, the instructions comprising:

• initiating, by the processor, a documentation generator interface within an interactive graphical design environment that allows a user to generate documentation for a design element in an interactive graphical design;
• receiving a documentation element addition command to add a documentation element to the initiated documentation generator interface within the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the documentation element is added to the documentation generator interface via a drag-and-drop operation between a toolbar and a design window of the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the documentation generator interface is executed by the processor operating in combination with the non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• initiating, by the processor, an interactive graphical design within the interactive graphical design environment;
• receiving a design element selection command to select a design element to be displayed in the initiated interactive graphical design within the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the design element in the interactive graphical design has been preprogrammed to display a plurality of states when the interactive graphical design is rendered in an external player;
• linking the documentation element and the design element through a link manager component such that the documentation element displays a representation of the design element, wherein the representation of the design element is an image of the design element, wherein the link manager component applies a modification made by the user to the design element displayed within the interactive graphical design to the representation of the design element displayed in the documentation generator interface, and wherein the link manager component is executed by the processor operating in combination with the non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• receiving a configuration of an action in a documentation element state display interface in the interactive graphical design environment, wherein the action includes at least one event handler, wherein execution of the action when the interactive graphical design is rendered in the player places the design element in a state from the plurality of states;
• and
• displaying, after receiving the configuration of the action in the documentation element state display interface, the representation of the design element in the state, wherein the representation of the design element is placed in the state by applying the action.