System and method for exposing tasks in a development environment
Contents
1. Editor 210b This is exemplary text with an exemplary object for providing an 610a example for the editor 029 x U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 11 0113 05 7 490 314 2 Fig 66 Editor 210b This is exemplary text with 620 an exemplary object for providing an 610b example for the editor U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 12 of 13 US 7 490 314 2 Fig 6c Editor 210b This is exemplary text with 620 an exemplary providing an sv 610c example for the editor U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 13 of 13 US 7 490 314 B2 Fig 7 Editor 210b This is exemplary text with 620 an exemplary for providing an B7 610c Panel 710 Reorder Parameter Add Parameter Delete Parameter US 7 490 314 B2 1 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXPOSING TASKS IN A DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is related by subject matter to U S patent application Ser No 10 769 637 entitled System and Method for Providing a Logical View of a Data Source filed on Jan 30 2004 U S patent application Ser No 10 768 525 entitled System and Method for Generating a Parameterized Query filed on Jan 30 2004 and U S patent application Ser No 10 768 526 entitled System and Method for Exposing a Child List filed on Jan 30 2004 the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety FIELD OF THE INVENTION The pres2. HT 2002 80 81 Jewell D Windows Shell Secrets EXE 1999 13 9 35 45 Kramer B 3D LISP Tools Cadence 1989 4 5 130 134 et al Improving Knowledge Management in Software Reuse Process PROFES 2001 LNCS 2188 141 152 Lewis P H et al Media based Navigation with Generic Links Hypertext 1996 215 223 Lin C F et al Chinese Text Distinction and Font Identification by Recognizing most Frequently Used Characters Image and Vision Computing 2001 19 329 338 Middel C D Software Configuration and Change Management Proceedings 5 Conference On Quality Engineering in Software Technology 2001 239 245 English Language Abstract Zagler W L Text Generation for Disabled Persons Using Word Prediction OEGAI Journal 2001 20 2 21 22 English Language Abstract IBM Research Eclipse Home page 2 pages JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA the best Java IDE around http www intel lij com 1 page Slickedit Code Editor C Editor Java Editor HTML Editor XML Editor Unicode Editor http www slickedit com page http www research ibm com eclipse Source Insight Program Editor and Analyzer http www sourcedyn com index html 2 pages Borland CodeWright The Programmer s Editing System http www premia com page Chalmers Physical Resource Theory The Complex Adaptive Sys tems Programmer of year 2000 http www frt fy chalmers se kristian soft
3. Primary Examiner Wei Y Zhen Redmond WA US Assistant Examiner Matthew J Brophy 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Woodcock Washburn LLP 73 Assignee Microsoft Corporation Redmond WA US 57 ABSTRACT Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 user interface 15 provided that exposes items such as devel U S C 154 b by 833 days oper tasks commands property settings and other related 21 Appl No 10 768 522 information to a user The user interface may be invoked in a 22 Filed Jan 30 2004 number of development interfaces such as for example a ind designer or an editor The user interface may be either an 65 Prior Publication Data object bound interface or an action triggered interface An object bound interface exposes a set of items that are associ US 2005 0171267 A1 Aug d 2005 ated with a corresponding object An action triggered inter 51 Int CI face exposes a set of items that are associated with a corre G06F 9 44 2006 01 sponding triggering action In addition to enumerating 52 USC 717 05 715 810 developer tasks the user interface may provide direct link to 58 Field of Classification Search 717 100 113 Other interfaces that facilitate task execution 717 120 715 810 See application file for complete search history Designer 210a 31 Claims 13 Drawing Sheets Form 320 Enable Adding Ena
4. Such exemplary tasks include dock in parent container and undock in parent container The dock in parent container task is selected The default positioning of a panel may be to the bottom right of an object as shown in FIGS 4a and 45 However the positioning of a panel may vary when there is not sufficient room to display the panel in its default positioning due to the positioning of the object For example when an object is positioned at the bottom edge of a screen the panel may be positioned to the top right of the object rather than to the bottom right ofthe object When an object is positioned at the right edge of a screen the panel may be positioned to the top ofthe object and as far right as possible without exceeding the screen boundary The panel may partially cover the object When an object is positioned at the top right corner of a screen the panel may also be positioned at the top right corner ofthe screen and may partially or entirely cover the object The positioning of the panel with respect to the icon may also vary For example the default positioning is for the panel to be aligned with a corner of the icon as shown in FIGS 4a and 45 However if the object is positioned such that there is not sufficient room to align the panel with a corner ofthe icon and display the entire panel then the panel may slide against the icon until the panel may be entirely displayed exemplary method for exposing developer tasks in ac
5. expose customized tasks commands and information selected by a user While the present invention has been described in connec tion with the preferred embodiments of the various figures it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating therefrom For example the user interface may be invoked in a development interface other than a designer or an editor Therefore the present invention should not be limited to any single embodi ment but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims What is claimed 1 method for exposing a developer task that is associated with an object in a development interface the method com prising detecting an object in a development interface determining that a developer task is associated with the object displaying a first icon in the development interface and adjacent to the object to indicate that a panel is available that enables the developer task to be viewed and selected the first icon being displayed without first requiring the object to be selected in response to the screen pointer hovering over the object displaying a third icon in the development interface and adjacent to the object the third icon being larger than the second icon and including the informational symbol and an addit
6. an attached mouse At step 530 the selected task is executed The selected developer task may be executed directly from panel 710 Alternatively the selection of the developer task may launch another user interface that facilitates execution of the task As should be appreciated the method of FIG 5 set forth aboveis described with respect to editor interface 2105 How ever the method may be employed in designer interface 210a with optional variations such as for example changing the characteristics of the icon in response to a selection of a corresponding control As should be appreciated steps 512 to 522 of FIG 5 are optional steps which may be performed or skipped individually or in combination For example as dis cussed previously a user preference that may be invoked is an auto pop feature in which a panel is generated instanta neously when a control is added to a development interface When the auto pop feature is invoked for a detected object steps 512 to 522 are not performed and the method skips from step 510 directly to step 524 Furthermore the icons and panels described with respect to the method of FIG 5 may also be displayed in designer interface 210a with optional variations as described in detail above with respect to FIGS 3a 3c and 4a 4b respectively Conclusion Thus a user interface for exposing developer tasks in con nection with a corresponding object or triggering action has been disclosed The us
7. may first be displayed to indicate to the user in a non obtrusive manner that a panel is available The user may then request 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 the panel by for example moving a screen pointer over the icon and clicking on the icon with an attached mouse In addition to traditional text items the panel may also include for example user input fields such as text edit boxes check boxes radio buttons and drop down menus Such user input fields may enable the user to set properties of a corresponding object In addition to enumerating developer tasks the panel may provide a direct link to other interfaces that facilitate task execution programmatic interface may enable the user to provide custom content that may be included in a panel According to another aspect of the invention an icon may be either an object bound icon or an action triggered icon An action bound icon may be displayed adjacent to a correspond ing object An action triggered icon may be displayed adja cent to an object on which a corresponding triggering action is performed Thus both an object bound icon and an action triggered icon may be displayed adjacent to a single object Various informational symbols may be displayed on the face ofan icon to indicate to the user whether the icon is an object bound icon or an action triggered icon and also possibly to indicate a particular type of triggering action with which t
8. persist with a corresponding object the user must repeatedly request the context menu every time she wishes to use it Another draw back of the context menu is that it is limited to text items and does not include for example user input fields such as radio buttons check boxes and drop down menus which may enable the user to input object properties Furthermore the context menu and traditional menus require the user to either select a menu option or close the menu before the user may return to the development interface in which she is working Thus even if the user does not wish to immediately invoke a menu item the user s actions and thought process must be interrupted to close the menu US 7 490 314 B2 3 Accordingly there is a need in the art for a smart user interface for exposing items including developer tasks and commands view and modify properties and ascertain other related information in connection with a corresponding object or triggering action The user interface may also expose items that are relevant to child objects that are asso ciated with the corresponding object and tool defined tasks that are related to the corresponding object It is desired that the user interface be functional in a number of development interfaces such as for example the designer and the editor It is further desired that the user interface provide a rich display that includes for example user input fields such as text edit
9. show exemplary user interface icons within the editor interface in accordance with the present invention and FIG 7 shows an exemplary user interface panel in the editor interface in accordance with the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS The subject matter of the present invention is described with specificity to meet statutory requirements However the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent Rather the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways to include different steps or elements similar to the ones described in this document in conjunction with other present or future technologies Moreover although the term step US 7 490 314 B2 5 may be used herein to connote different aspects of methods employed the term should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein dis closed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described We will now explain the present invention with reference to presently preferred exemplary embodiments We will first describe illustrative computing and development environ ments in which the invention may be practiced and then we will describe presently preferred implementations of the invention Illustrative Computer Environment FIG 1 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief general descr
10. 210 The user interface may be either an object bound interface or an action triggered interface An object bound interface is associated with a correspond ing object 212 in development interface 210 The object 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 bound interface exposes a set of items associated with the corresponding object 212 The object bound interface may also expose tasks that are related to child objects that are associated with the corresponding object As set forth above with respect to developer tasks the availability of items may vary depending on the state of the object 212 The object bound interface preferably persists with the corresponding object 212 as long as the object 212 is present in development interface 210 Thus the object bound interface enables the execution of developer tasks in iterative scenarios which may include executing several tasks in an arbitrary order The object bound interface also enables the performance of tasks in a re entrant fashion The term re entrant as used herein refers to performing a task successively without delet ing the intermediate states Thus the task may be re entered with the initial state being initialized using the previous state An action triggered interface is triggered by a correspond ing user action performed in development interface 210 The action triggered interface exposes a set of items associated with the corresponding action The
11. United States Patent US007490314B2 12 10 Patent No US 7 490 314 B2 Yuknewicz et al 45 Date of Patent Feb 10 2009 54 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXPOSING 56 References Cited TASKS IN A DEVELOPMENT U S PATENT DOCUMENTS ENVIRONMENT 75 1 Paul Yuknewicz Redmond WA US 4 674 065 6 1987 Lange 364 900 ID k Ha d d F vA 5 5 267 155 11 1993 Buchanan etal 364 419 14 Sen niis p se PE S 5392386 2 1995 Chalas Ls 395 155 CM US 5 557 730 A 9 1996 Frid Nielsen 715 839 Donna Wallace Woodinville WA US B 5 736 974 A 4 1998 Selker 715 862 Antoine Cote Redmond WA US 5 5 815 830 A 9 1998 Anthony Fred Balsiger Carnation WA US dis 5 859 686 A 1 1999 Pandit 345 335 Nikhil Kothari Sammamish WA US 5 946 647 A 8 1999 Miller et al 704 9 Brian Pepin Seattle WA US Jeffrey EI Chrisope Kirkland US Graeme Mott Redmond WA US Christopher Dias Kirkland WA US Bulusu Continued Krishna Mohan Redmond WA US Andrew Cheng min Lin Seattle WA PUBLICATIONS US Joseph F Kubiniec Seattle Abiteboul S et al A Logical View of Structured Files The VLDB US James Schmelzer Seattle WA Journal 1998 7 96 114 US Corrina Barber Snohomish WA Continued US Anson M Horton Sammamish Continued WA US Meshan Rae Perez
12. acent to the object displaying a second icon in the development interface and adjacent to the object the second icon being larger than the first icon and including an infor mational symbol in response to the screen pointer hov ering over the object displaying a third icon in the devel opment interface and adjacent to the object the third icon being larger than the second icon and including the informational symbol and an additional symbol detect ing a selection of the third icon and displaying the panel in response to detecting the selec tion of the third icon 17 a method for exposing a developer task that is associ ated with an object in a development interface the method comprising detecting the performance of an action on an object in a development interface determining that a developer task is associated with the action displaying a first icon in the development interface and adjacent to the object to indicate that a panel is available that enables the developer task to be viewed and selected the first icon being displayed without first requiring the object to be selected in response to a screen pointer hovering over a screen area adjacent to the object displaying a second icon in the development interface and adjacent to the object the second icon being larger than the first icon and including an informational symbol in response to the screen pointer hovering over the object displaying a third icon in th
13. action triggered interface preferably expires after the occurrence of an expiration event Such an expiration event may be for example the expiration of a time interval after the performance of the triggering action An expiration event may also be for example the performance of another user action after the performance of the triggering action The items exposed in the user interface may be displayed to the user in a user interface panel Such a panel is described in detail below with reference to FIGS 4a and 45 Development interface 210 may enable a user to select an auto pop option in which the panel is displayed instantaneously when acorresponding object 212 is added to development interface 210 The panel may also be requested using short cut key stroke mechanisms Alternatively prior to displaying the panel a user interface icon may be displayed to the user Such an icon indicates in a non obtrusive manner that a panel is available Unlike a prior art context menu an icon preferably does not require a response form the user An icon may be an object bound icon or an action triggered icon depending on whether it is dis played in connection with an object bound or an action trig gered interface respectively An object bound icon may be displayed adjacent to a corresponding object An action may be displayed adjacent to an object on which a corresponding triggering action is performed Thus both an object bound and an ac
14. and anexternal storage device 162 connected to the SCSI bus 156 The personal computer 120 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers such as a remote computer 149 The remote com puter 149 may be another personal computer a application service a router a network PC a peer device or other com mon network node and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the personal computer 120 although only a memory storage device 150 has been illustrated in FIG 1 The logical connections depicted in FIG 1 include a local area network LAN 151 and a wide area network WAN 152 Such networking environments are commonplace in offices enterprise wide computer networks intranets and the Internet When used in a LAN networking environment the per sonal computer 120 is connected to the LAN 151 through a network interface or adapter 153 When used in a WAN net working environment the personal computer 120 typically includes a modem 154 or other means for establishing com munications over the wide area network 152 such as the Internet The modem 154 which may be internal or external is connected to the system bus 123 via the serial port interface 146 In a networked environment program modules depicted relative to the personal computer 120 or portions thereof may be stored in the remote memory storage device It will be appreciated that the network connect
15. ay be shown then the icon may be displayed after the operation is completed Once an icon is displayed a user may request a user inter face panel by for example moving a screen pointer over the icon and clicking the icon with an attached mouse The user may also be requested is by placing a screen pointer over the icon for a sufficient duration of time The panel may also be requested using short cut key stroke mechanisms The panel may than be displayed adjacent to a correspond ing icon The panel may include traditional text items from which the user may select Such text items may be developer tasks and other commands grouped and ordered using exten sibility mechanisms made available by development interface 0 35 40 45 50 55 65 10 210 Text items may also be displayed on the panel to provide for example textual information a textual header or a label In addition to text items the panel may include user input fields such as for example text edit boxes check boxes radio buttons and drop down menus Such user input fields may enable the user for example to set properties ofa correspond ing object The panel may also include custom content selected by a user via a programmatic interface The proper ties may also be associated with type converters for an addi tional rich user interface For example such association with type converters may be used with respect to a color picker Exemplary panels i
16. bject Object 212a 212n Notification Service 214 Task Provider 220 Task Service 230 200 U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 3 of 13 US 7 490 314 B2 Fig 3a Designer 210a Form 320 J E Control 322 U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 4 of 13 US 7 490 314 B2 Fig 3b Designer 210a Form 320 Control 322 I3 310b U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 5 of 13 US 7 490 314 2 Fig 3c Designer 210a Form 320 A E Control 322 T 310b U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 6 of 13 US 7 490 314 B2 Fig 4a Designer 210a Form 320 Control 322 n Panel 410a Auto Format Edit Columns Add Column A Enable Adding Q Enable Editing O Enable Deleting U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 7 of 13 US 7 490 314 2 Fig 46 Designer 210 320 Control 322 Panel 410b Panl440b o Dock in Parent Container Q Undock in Parent Container U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 8 of 13 US 7 490 314 B2 Fig 5a 510 DETECT OBJECT OR ACTION 512 GENERATE MARKER 514 DETECT INDIRECT HOVER 516 GENERATE INDIRECT ICON 518 DETECT DIRECT HOVER 520 GENERATE DIRECT ICON U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 9 of 13 US 7 490 314 B2 Fig 5b 522 DETECT PANEL REQUEST 524 DETERMINE AVAILABLE DEVELOPER TASKS 526 GENERATE PANEL 528 DETECT SELECTION OF DEVELOPER TASK 550 EXECUTE DEVELOPER TASK U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 10 of 13 05 7 490 314 B2 Fig
17. bject bound icon 310a is associated with control 322 Control 322 is positioned in a form 320 within designer 210a Object bound icon 310a indicates to the user that an object bound panel is available in connection with control 322 Object bound icon 310a includes only a drop down arrow Referring now to FIG 35 control 322 has an associated action triggered icon 3106 which indicates to the user that an action triggered interface panel is available in connection with an action that has been performed on control 322 Unlike object bound icon 310a of FIG 3a which includes only a drop down arrow action triggered icon 3105 includes both a drop down arrow and a exclamation mark symbol The addition of the excla mation mark symbol indicates to the user that the icon 3106 is an action triggered icon rather than an object bound icon Referring now to FIG 3c control 322 has both an associated object bound icon 310a and an associated action triggered icon 3106 which indicate that both an object bound panel and an action triggered panel are available Characteristics ofanicon may also vary based on the user s interaction with the icon and or object to which it corre sponds For example characteristics of the icon may vary depending on whether control 322 is selected or whether it is one in a group of selected objects Furthermore the charac teristics of the icon may vary depending on a location of screen pointer with respect to the icon Exemplary
18. ble Editing DlEnable Deleting US 7 490 314 B2 Page 2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 085 201 A T2000 Iso 5 sete ettet 707 505 6 122 647 A 9 2000 Horowitz et al 707 513 6 182 279 B1 1 2001 Buxton 717 100 6 305 008 B1 10 2001 Vaidyanathan et al see ALTA 6 311 323 B1 10 2001 Shulman et al 717A11 6 367 068 4 2002 Vaidyanathan et al 717 8 6 405 364 B1 6 2002 Bowman Amuah 717 101 6 502 233 B1 12 2002 Vaidyanathan et al 717 101 7 017 143 B1 3 2006 Andrew et al 717 100 7 055 136 B2 5 2006 Dzoba etal 717 125 7 139 999 B2 11 2006 Bowman Amuah 717 101 7 299 419 B2 11 2007 Evans 715 763 2004 0221262 Al 11 2004 Hampapuram et al 717 113 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Anderson et al Chimera Hypertext for Heterogeneous Soft ware Environments ECHT Proceedings Sep 1994 94 107 Breidenbach G Programmable Keyboard Controller Electronic Praxis 2001 6 68 70 English Language Abstract Hayes P J et al A Logical View of Types Association for Com puting Machinery 1980 128 130 Henninger S et al A Tool For Managing Software Development Knowledge PROFES 2001 LNCS 2188 182 195 Holmes N Seven Great Blunders of the Computing World Com puter 2002 110 112 Hughes G et al Microsoft Smart Tags Support ignore or con demn them
19. boxes check boxes radio buttons and drop down menus It is further desired that the user interface enable direct execution of developer tasks or alternatively provide a direct link to other interfaces that facilitate task execution It is further desired that the user interface provide strong visual attractors in proximity to an object thereby alerting the user to its availability It is further desired the user interface expose tasks and information in a non obtrusive manner without interrupting the actions or the thought process of the user It is further desired that the user interface function in a manner that is consistent with other interfaces in other computing environments such as for example in personal productivity systems thereby providing a familiar and intuitive experience for the user It is further desired that the user interface option ally persist with a corresponding object as long as the object is present or the action is applicable in a development inter face so that the user need not repeatedly request the user interface Itis further desired that the user interface enable the selection of customized tasks commands and information Other features and advantages of the invention may become apparent from the following detailed description of the inven tion and accompanying drawings SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A user interface is provided that exposes items such as developer tasks commands property settings and othe
20. cordance with the present invention is shown in FIGS 5a and 55 At step 510 task provider 220 detects an object 212 or atriggering action within development interface 210 At step 512 task provider 220 generates a marker icon The marker is a small non obtrusive icon which notifies the user that a task US 7 490 314 B2 11 interface is available in connection with the detected object 212 or triggering action As should be appreciated in certain instances no developer tasks may be available for the object or triggering action Thus prior to generating the marker at step 512 task provider 220 may first determine whether a developer task is available for the detected object 212 or triggering action If no such developer task is available then task provider 220 may fail to generate the marker Step 512 is an optional step For example in one embodi ment of the present invention the marker may only be dis played when a screen pointer is hovering over the same line as a corresponding object The relationship between the object and task provider 220 is maintained even if the marker is not displayed Anexemplary marker in the editor interface 2105 is shown in FIG Editor interface 2105 includes exemplary text with an exemplary object shown by the word object The word object is underlined with a squiggly line to indicate to the user that it is an object Although the squiggly line is shown in FIG 6a the squiggly li
21. d hold commonly used commands for a particular area ofan application Often context menus are assigned to controls and provide particular commands that relate to the control to which they are assigned Status bars indicate an application state or provide information about a corresponding entity in the application that has a focus such as a menu command While the user interfaces set forth above serve many pur poses their implementation involves several drawbacks For example traditional menus toolbars and status bars are gen erally located around the perimeter of a development inter face and therefore are not local to an object or screen area in which a triggering action occurs Thus to invoke such inter faces in connection with an object the user is required to for example move a screen pointer from an object to the perim eter of a development interface thereby interrupting the user s actions and thought process context menu may alleviate some of the positioning drawbacks set forth above because the context menu may be displayed adjacent to an object However a drawback of the context menu is that its discoverability is limited Specifi cally before being displayed it must first be requested by the user Thus the user may not be aware or may forget that the context menu is available Additionally the user must inter rupt her action and thought process to request the context menu Also because the context menu does not
22. directly from a control by for example right clicking on the control and selecting a view code option The source code or text within the editor may include a number of objects To better enable the user s interaction with such objects it is desirable for the development tool to expose and execute an increasing number of developer tasks The term developer task as used herein refers to any task executed in connection with an object or a triggering action performed by the user within a development interface Such developer tasks may be for example data configuration and builder tasks performed in connection with an object Such developer tasks may also be for example tasks which modify a user action with a user specified result Some exemplary developer tasks are described in the aforementioned U S patent application Ser No 10 768 525 entitled System and Method for Generating a Parameterized Query and U S patent application Ser No 10 768 526 entitled System and Method for Exposing a Child List Conventional development tools may employ a combina tion of user interfaces such as traditional menus shortcut menus status bars and toolbars to expose tasks and com mands to the user and alert the user to important information within an application Traditional menus hold commands grouped by a common theme Toolbars use buttons to expose frequently used commands Context menus pop up in response to a right click of the mouse an
23. e development interface and adjacent to the object the third icon being larger than the second icon and including the informational symbol and an additional symbol detecting a selection of the third US 7 490 314 B2 15 icon and displaying the panel in response to detecting the selection of the third icon 18 The method of claim 17 further comprising detecting the performance of the action in a designer 19 The method of claim 17 further comprising detecting the performance of the action in an editor 20 The method of claim 17 wherein determining that the developer task is associated with the action comprises query ing a task to service to determine that the developer task is associated with the action 21 The method of claim 17 further comprising providing a programmatic interface that enables a user to associate the developer task with the action 22 The method of claim 17 further comprising displaying a second icon adjacent to the object on which the action is performed when a screen pointer is hovering over a screen area adjacent to the object and displaying a third icon adja cent to the object when the screen pointer is hovering over the object 23 The method of claim 17 further comprising displaying the panel adjacent to the first icon 24 The method of claim 17 further comprising displaying marker icon when a screen pointer is hovering over screen area that is not adjacent to the object on which the act
24. ent invention relates to the field of software devel opment and more specifically to providing a user interface that enables a user to efficiently view and select developer tasks in a development environment BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A development tool such as for example VISUAL STU DIO from Microsoft Corp of Redmond Wash enables development of a wide range of computing applications Such applications may include for example web applications extensible markup language XML applications and tradi tional client applications As part of the development process auser may view manage and manipulate a number of objects within the development environment Such objects may include for example forms controls components text strings and other like elements associated with the develop ment process The development tool may employ a number of development interfaces that enable the user to interact with such objects One such development interface is the designer Generally the designer enables the user to add align position view manage and manipulate forms and controls A form is an object that enables the presentation of information to the user and the acceptance of input information from the user A form may expose properties and methods which define its appear ance and behavior and events which define its interaction with the user By setting its properties and writing code to respond to its events a user may cust
25. equiring the object to be selected in response to a screen pointer hovering over a screen area adjacent to the object displaying a second icon in the development interface and adjacent to the object the second icon being larger than the first icon and including an informational symbol in response to the screen pointer hovering over the object displaying a third icon in the development interface and adjacent to the object the third icon being larger than the second icon and including the informational symbol and an additional symbol detecting a selection of the third icon and displaying the panel in response to detecting the selection of the third icon
26. er interface may also expose items that are relevant to child objects that are associated with the cor responding object and tool defined tasks that are related to the corresponding object In addition to exposing developer tasks the user interface may expose other commands prop erties and related information The user interface functions in a number of development interfaces such as for example the designer and the editor The user interface provides a rich panel that includes for example user input fields such as check boxes radio buttons and drop down menus The user interface enables direct execution of developer tasks or alter natively provides a direct link to other interfaces that facili tate execution The user interface is highly discoverable in US 7 490 314 B2 13 that it provides a strong visual attractor in proximity to an object thereby alerting the user to the availability of the interface The user interface exposes tasks and information in a non obtrusive manner without interrupting the actions or the thought process ofthe user The user interface functions in a manner that is consistent with other interfaces in other computing environments such as for example in personal productivity systems thereby providing a familiar and intui tive experience for the user The user interface may optionally persist with a corresponding object as long as the object is present in a development interface The user interface may
27. he icon is associated Characteristics of an icon such as for example its shape size shading and informational symbols may vary depending on the user s interaction with the icon and the adjacent object For example the characteristics ofan icon may vary depending on whether a screen pointer oper ated by the user is hovering away from an icon hovering indirectly over an icon or hovering indirectly over an icon Additional features and advantages ofthe invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The illustrative embodiments will be better understood after reading the following detailed description with refer ence to the appended drawings in which FIG 1 is a block diagram representing a general purpose computer system in which aspects of the present invention and or portions thereof may be incorporated FIG 2 1s a block diagram of an exemplary development environment in accordance with the present invention FIG 3a 3c show exemplary user interface icons within the designer interface in accordance with the present invention FIGS 4a and 46 show exemplary user interface panels in the designer interface in accordance with the present inven tion FIGS 5a and 55 are a flowchart of an exemplary method for exposing developer tasks in accordance with the present invention FIG 6a 6c
28. icons displayed in response to various user interactions are described in detail below with reference to FIGS 6a 6c If a group of objects are multi selected then only the primary selected object may display any icons that are present Non primary objects in a multi selection may how ever show their corresponding icons when a screen pointer hovers over them Otherwise non primary objects may func tion as if they are not selected Additionally if a number of objects overlap one another then only the primary object may display any icons that are present Furthermore if an object is positioned on a screen such that it has a corresponding object icon and action triggered icon that overlap one another then the action triggered icon may be displayedon top ofthe object icon A floating tool window displayed in the designer inter face may partially cover an icon However clicking on the icon may generate a display ofthe panel overthe tool window Anicon may be shown continuously during a scroll opera tion Ifa scroll operation requires an icon to be moved so that it may be visible to the user then the moving icon may be visible as the screen is scrolled When an object is resized or moved its corresponding icon may disappear during the operation and may reappear when the operation is completed Ifan object is first positioned so that its corresponding icon is not shown and the object is then subsequently resized or moved such that the icon m
29. ion is performed 25 The method of claim 17 further comprising displaying non shaded icon when a screen pointer is hovering adjacent to the object on which the action is performed 26 The method of claim 17 further comprising displaying a shaded icon when a screen pointer is hovering over the first icon 27 The method of claim 17 further comprising causing the first icon to expire after a selected time interval 20 25 30 16 28 The method of claim 17 further comprising causing the first icon to expire that expires after a performance of another action by a user 29 The method of claim 17 further comprising displaying with the first icon that include an informational symbol cor responding to a type of action 30 The method of claim 17 further comprising detecting a selection of the developer task and providing a direct link to another user interface that facilitates the execution of the developer task 31 A computer readable medium storage having com puter executable instructions that when executed cause a computer to perform the steps of detecting the performance of an action on an object in a development interface determining that a developer task is associated with the action displaying a first icon in the development inter face and adjacent to the object to indicate that a panel is available that enables the developer task to be viewed and selected the first icon being displayed without first r
30. ional symbol detecting a selection of the third icon and displaying the panel in response to detecting the selection of the third icon 2 The method of claim 1 further comprising detecting the object in a designer 3 The method of claim 1 further comprising detecting the object in an editor 4 The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a state of the object and determining that the developer task is associated with the object based on the state of the object 5 The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the developer task is associated with the object comprises query ing a task to service to determine that the developer task is associated with the object 6 The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a programmatic interface that enables a user to associate the developer task with the object 7 The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a second the icon adjacent to the object when a screen pointer is hovering over a screen area adjacent to the object and dis playing a third icon adjacent to the object when the screen pointer is hovering over the object 8 The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the panel adjacent to the first icon 0 an 5 25 30 40 60 65 14 9 The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a marker icon when a screen pointer is hovering over a screen area that is not adjacent to the object 10 The method of claim 1 f
31. ions shown are exem plary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used Systems and Methods of the Present Invention An exemplary development environment 200 in accor dance with the present invention is shown in FIG 2 Devel opment environment 200 includes a development interface 210 As should be appreciated development environment 200 may include any number of development interfaces 210 Gen erally development interface 210 enables the user to view manage and manipulate a number of objects 212a n within development environment 200 Such objects 212a n may include for example forms controls components text strings and other like elements associated with the develop ment process Development interface 210 also enables the user to perform a number of actions Such actions may be for US 7 490 314 B2 7 example adding and positioning objects 212a within development interface 210 and modifying the properties of objects 212 Development interface 210 may be for example a designer or an editor As set forth above a designer enables the user to add align position view and otherwise manage objects such as for example forms and controls n editor provides a word processing interface that enables a user to generate edit and save source code and text related to appli cation development The source code or text within the editor may include a number of objects Develop
32. iption of a suitable computing environ ment in which the present invention and or portions thereof may be implemented Although not required the invention is described in the general context of computer executable instructions such as program modules being executed by a computer such as a client workstation or an application ser vice Generally program modules include routines pro grams objects components data structures and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types Moreover it should be appreciated that the invention and or portions thereof may be practiced with other computer system configurations including hand held devices multi processor systems microprocessor based or programmable consumer electronics network PCs minicomputers main frame computers and the like The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network In a distributed comput ing environment program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices As shown in FIG 1 an exemplary general purpose com puting system includes a conventional personal computer 120 or the like including a processing unit 121 a system memory 122 and a system bus 123 that couples various system com ponents including the system memory to the processing unit 121 The system bus 123 may be any of
33. ment interface 210 includes a notification service 214 that tracks objects 212a n and their corresponding states and other related information For example notification ser vice 214 may track the data sources to which objects 212a n are bound Notification service 214 also tracks user actions occurring within development interface 210 Task provider 220 communicates with notification service 214 to detect objects 212a n within the development interface 210 and their corresponding states The task provider 220 determines a set of developer tasks that are associated with each detected object 212 For example data grid view control may have a set of associated data configuration and builder tasks The availability of the associated tasks may vary based on the state of the detected object 212 For example the availability of the data configuration and builder tasks may vary depending on the types of data sources to which the data grid view control is bound Thetask provider 220 also communicates with notification service 214 to detect actions occurring within the develop ment interface 210 and determines a set of developer tasks associated with a detected action Such developer tasks gen erally modify an action with a user specified result For example when a control is dragged from a toolbox and dropped into a form in the designer the control may be automatically docked in a parent control An associated developer task may for example enable
34. n the designer interface are shown in FIGS 4a and 4b As should be appreciated similar panels may be employed in the editor interface with optional varia tions as will be described in detail below with reference to FIG 7 An exemplary object bound panel 410a is shown in FIG 4a Object bound panel 410a is displayed adjacent to object bound icon 310a Object bound panel 410a includes a list ofexemplary developer tasks available in connection with control 322 Such tasks include auto format column edit and column addition The edit column and add column tasks are grouped according to their likely common use Object bound panel 410a also includes three user input fields displayed below the developer tasks As should be appreciated although user input fields 420 are check boxes other user input fields such as for example text edit boxes radio buttons and drop down menus may be displayed User input fields 420 correspond to exemplary properties of control 322 The exemplary properties are enable adding enable editing and enable deleting As shown the enable adding property is selected The enable editing and enable deleting properties are not selected An exemplary action triggered panel 410b is shown in FIG 4b Action triggered panel 4105 is displayed adjacent to action triggered icon 4105 Action triggered panel 4105 includes a list of exemplary developer tasks available in con nection with the triggering action performed on control 322
35. ne need not be displayed every time a smart tag is available in connection with an object The editor 2105 includes a screen pointer 620 which may be guided by a user input device such as an attached mouse In FIG 6a pointer 620 is not positioned over the object orits corresponding icon 610a Accordingly icon 610a is merely a small non obtrusive marker that is a small rect angular box The positioning of marker 610a may optionally vary depending on whether it is an object bound icon or an action triggered icon For example if marker 610a is an object bound icon then it may be positioned to the bottom left ofthe object as shown in FIG 6a If marker 610a is an action triggered icon then it may be positioned to the bottom right of the object In an alternative embodiment the user may set marker 610a to be an enlarged icon that includes an informa tional symbol similar to the icon described below with refer ence to FIG 65 At step 514 task provider 220 detects that screen pointer 620 is indirectly hovering over marker 610a meaning that screen pointer 620 is hovering adjacent to the corresponding object In response to the detection ofthe indirect hover task provider 220 generates an indirect icon at step 516 An exem plary indirect icon 6105 in editor interface 2105 is shown in FIG 65 Indirect icon 6105 is larger than marker 610a and includes an informational symbol Screen pointer 620 is hov ering adjacent to the word object
36. omize a form to meet the requirements of an application A simple way to define a user interface for a form is to place controls on the form s surface A control is an object that is contained within a form A control may be an object such as for example a data grid view a drop down list acombo box a button or a check box Each type of control has its own set of properties methods and events that make it suitable for a particular purpose The designer enables a userto add controls to a form For example the designer may enable a control to be added to a form by dragging and dropping the control from a server management console or a logical data source interface such as described in the aforementioned U S patent application Ser No 10 769 637 entitled System and Method for Providing a Logical View ofa Data Source Once a control is added to a form the designer enables the control to be aligned and positioned within the form Another development interface that the enables the user to interact with objects is the development tool code and text editor Generally the editor provides a word processing inter face that enables a user to efficiently generate edit and save um 0 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 source code and text related to application development The editor may include a language specific service that checks for syntax and usage errors within source code The editor may be opened
37. r related information to a user The user interface may be imple mented in and invoked from a number of development inter faces such as for example a designer or an editor The user interface may be either an object bound interface or an action triggered interface An object bound interface exposes items that are associated with a corresponding object and possibly other associated child objects in a development interface An action triggered interface exposes items that are associated with a corresponding user action performed in a development interface According an aspect ofthe invention a task provider moni tors the development interface to detect objects and their corresponding states The task provider determines based on the state of the detected objects which developer tasks are available in connection with detected objects The task pro vider also detects user actions occurring within the develop ment interface and determines which developer tasks are available in connection with the detected actions A task service functions in connection with the task provider to manage developer tasks According to another aspect of the invention the user interface may include a panel that is displayed adjacent to a corresponding object The panel may be instantaneously dis played when a corresponding object is dropped into a devel opment interface The panel may also be requested using short cut key stroke mechanisms Alternatively an icon
38. r Windows 32 Bit 1998 Novell Inc 1 318 Claris for Macintosh Claris Emailer Getting Started 1995 1997 Claris Corporation 61 pages Developer s Guide to Apple Data Detectors For Version 1 0 2 Apple Computer Inc 1997 1 34 Apple Data Detectors User s Manual O 1997 Apple Computer Inc 1 16 Nardi B A et al Collaborative Programmable Intelligent Agents Mar 1998 Apple Computer advanced Technology Group 1 11 U S Appl No 10 178 680 filed Jun 24 2002 Jeffrey Reynar U S Appl No 10 779 298 filed Feb 13 2004 Svetlana L cited by examiner US 7 490 314 B2 Sheet 1 of 13 Feb 10 2009 U S Patent Big 097 Ter 6271 Kowa esnoy SEL 961 s duoo F Mp ee Viva 90 dV ZEL SOOUd SET SM SO pee ee mee pe ae eng BZT aua jeondo Addo 721 e ug pied TEL VIVO 9Od ZEL SSOSd EET a l 9 uq AuG jeondo ect All OMEN lenas SET 5150 _ veruun 92 50 88 DuisseooJg Per WOU L sng ulejsAS COL A Jeydepy ibi JOJUONW 021 Jeyndwoy U S Patent Feb 10 2009 Sheet 2 of 13 US 7 490 314 2 Fig 2 Development Interface 210 O
39. several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller a peripheral bus and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures The system memory includes read only memory ROM 124 and random access memory RAM 125 A basic input output system 126 BIOS containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between ele ments within the personal computer 120 such as during start up is stored in ROM 124 The personal computer 120 may further include a hard disk drive 127 for reading from and writing to a hard disk not shown a magnetic disk drive 128 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 129 and an optical disk drive 130 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 131 such as a CD ROM or other optical media The hard disk drive 127 magnetic disk drive 128 and optical disk drive 130 are connected to the system bus 123 by a hard disk drive interface 132 a magnetic disk drive interface 133 and an optical drive interface 134 respectively The drives and their associated computer readable media provide non volatile storage of computer readable instructions data structures program modules and other data for the personal computer 120 Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk a removable magnetic disk 129 and a removable optical disk 131 it should be appreciated that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is acces
40. sible by a computer may also be used in the exemplary 40 45 65 6 operating environment Such other types of media include a magnetic cassette a flash memory card a digital video disk a Bernoulli cartridge a random access memory RAM a read only memory and the like number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk magnetic disk 129 optical disk 131 ROM 124 or RAM 125 including an operating system 135 one or more appli cation 212 programs 136 other program modules 137 and program data 138 A user may enter commands and informa tion into the personal computer 120 through input devices such as a keyboard 140 and pointing device 142 such as a mouse Other input devices not shown may include a micro phone joystick game pad satellite disk scanner or the like These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 121 through a serial port interface 146 that is coupled to the system bus but may be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port game port or universal serial bus USB A monitor 147 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 123 via an inter face such as a video adapter 148 In addition to the monitor 147 a personal computer typically includes other peripheral output devices not shown such as speakers and printers The exemplary system of FIG 1 also includes a host adapter 155 a Small Computer System Interface SCSI bus 156
41. sk service also 230 provides a programmatic interface that enables a user to add and remove tasks from an objects corresponding set of available tasks The developer tasks available in connection with a detected object may vary depending on the state of the object At step 526 task provider 220 generates a panel for the detected object or triggering action An exemplary user inter face panel in editor interface 2105 is shown in FIG 7 Panel 710 includes exemplary developer tasks reorder parameter add parameter and delete parameter If desired and appropri ate panel 710 may also include expandable and collapsible sections for particular groups of items Panel 710 may also include a list of help topics that provide contextual assistance to the user Panel 710 may also include an item that enables the user to set options for the user interface Panel 710 may also include a task that enables the user to change existing code or generate new code At step 528 task provider 220 detects a selection of a developer task from panel 710 The user may select a devel oper task by for example moving screen pointer 620 over the task and clicking the task with an attached mouse As should beappreciated the user may dismiss the task interface without selecting a task The user may dismiss the task interface 710 by for example moving screen pointer 620 to a screen area of development interface 210 that is not occupied by task inter face 610 and clicking
42. the user to undock the control from its parent A task may not always be available in connection with an object or triggering action The determination of which if any tasks are available in connection in connection with an object or triggering action may require some time and there fore task provider 220 has the ability to delay or delegate the identification of developer tasks until the application is idle thereby not slowing the responsiveness of development inter face 210 To determine the available tasks that are associated with an object or triggering action task provider 220 may query task service 230 Task service 230 effectively maintains an asso ciation between an object and a corresponding set of available tasks that are associated with the object The task service also 230 provides a programmatic interface that enables a user to add and remove tasks from an objects corresponding set of available tasks The programmatic interface may be invoked after receiving notifications from notification service 214 Task service 230 also maintains logic for exposing tasks to the user The developer tasks set forth above may be exposed in a user interface in accordance with the present invention In addition to exposing developer tasks the user interface may expose other related items such as for example commands properties and information in connection with objects 212a n and actions performed by a user within development interface
43. tion triggered icon may be displayed adjacent to a single object Characteristics of an icon such as for example its size shape form shading color and position relative to an object may vary Such characteristics may be dependent on factors such as for example the particular development interface 210 in which the icon is displayed whether the icon is an object bound icon or an action triggered icon and user pref erences Development interface 210 may enable the user to set particular icon characteristics Additionally various informational symbols may be dis played on the face of an icon to indicate to the user whether the icon is an object bound icon or an action triggered icon For example an object bound icon may include a drop down arrow while an action triggered icon may include both a drop down arrow and an informational symbol such as for example a quotation mark In some cases the particular informational symbol displayed on an action triggered icon may indicate with which type of action the icon is associated For example an icon showing two overlaying lined pages may be used to indicate a copy text action US 7 490 314 B2 9 Exemplary icons in the designer interface are shown in FIG 3a c As should be appreciated similar icons may be employed in the editor interface with optional variations as will be described in detail below with reference to FIG 6a 6c An exemplary object bound icon is shown in FIG 3a O
44. urther comprising displaying a non shaded icon when a screen pointer is hovering adjacent to the object 11 The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a shaded icon when a screen pointer is hovering over the first icon 12 The method of claim 1 further comprising determining that the developer task is associated with a child object that is associated with the object that is detected in the development interface 13 The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a user interface with a user input field that enables the user to set a property of the object 14 The method of claim 1 further comprising detecting a selection of the developer task and providing a direct link to another user interface that facilitates the execution of the developer task 15 The method of claim 1 further comprising executing the developer task in a re entrant fashion 16 A computer readable storage medium having com puter executable instructions that when executed cause a computer to perform the steps of detecting an object in a development interface determining that a developer task is associated with the object displaying a first icon in the development inter face and adjacent to the object to indicate that a panel is available that enables the developer task to be viewed and selected the first icon being displayed without first requiring the object to be selected in response to a screen pointer hovering over a screen area adj
45. ware html 1 page Emacs W3 v 4 0 http www cs indiana edu elisp w3 docs html 1 page Vi A Unix text editor http www indiana edu ucspubs b104 ztoc html 8 pages MacroMedia Inc Director MX Using Director Copyright 2004 Macromedia Inc 496 pages Willisson Pace et al ISPELL UNIX Man Pages Aug 23 2003 73 pages SED 1 BSD Reference Manual sedMan txt 6 pages McMahon L E SED A Non Interactive Text Editor Bell Labo ratories Aug 15 1978 10 pages The Complete Red Hat Linux Operating System 5 2 Deluxe Macmillan Digital Publishing U S A 385 pages CoStar User s Manual For AddressMate and AddressMate Plus CoStar Corp 1994 1995 pp 1 1 thru Index 210 Beitner N D et al Multimedia Support and Authoring in Micro cosm An Extended Model Department of Electronics and Com puter Science University of Southampton 12 pages IBM Research Disclosure 368 Multimedia Hyperlinks Automati cally Created for Reference Documents Jun 1993 5 pages Microsoft Office 97 User s Manual Getting Results with Microsoft Office 97 Real World Solutions for the Work You Do 1997 1 703 Corel Corporation Limited Corel InfoCentral User s Manual 1996 vol 1 Version 7 0 1996 1 thru 86 Corel Office Professional 7 Quick Results 7 531 Novell GroupWise User s Guide for Windows 16 Bit Version 5 2 1993 1997 1 231 Novell Group Wise User s Guide fo
46. while not hovering over icon 6108 At step 518 task provider 220 detects that screen pointer 620 is directly hovering over icon 6105 In response to the detection of the direct hover task provider 220 generates a direct icon at step 520 An exemplary direct icon 610c in editor interface 2105 is shown in FIG 6c Direct icon 610c is enlarged to include a drop down arrow in addition to an informational symbol As set for the above different infor mational symbols may be displayed in direct icon 610c to indicate various types of triggering actions and tasks with which the icon is associated such as for example error cor rection refactoring and general tasks Additionally although not shown in FIG 6c direct icon 610c is preferably shaded At step 522 task provider 220 detects a request for a user interface panel The user may request the panel by for example clicking on direct icon 610c with an attached mouse At step 524 task provider 220 determines a set of developer tasks available in connection with the object or triggering action detected at step 510 As set forth previously to determine the available tasks that are associated with an object or triggering action task provider 220 may query task service 230 Task service 230 effectively maintains an asso 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 ciation between an object and a corresponding set of available tasks that are associated with the object The ta
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