Capturing and restoring application state after unexpected application shutdown

Abstract

During unexpected application shutdowns, application settings states are captured, and displayed application states are restored upon subsequent application restart. User data displayed prior to shutdown may also be restored to pre-shutdown states. Data representing in-use application settings states and in-use user data are stored on a periodic basis, or upon notification of an impending application shutdown. Upon restart, any application deployed prior to shutdown is re-deployed according to the stored application settings states for each application, and any in-use documents or other data may be re-deployed according to the stored user data.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computing operating environment.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a relationship and interaction between a software application, software application components and a computer operating system.

FIG. 3 is a logical flow diagram illustrating the storing of application state data and user data prior to application shutdown and illustrating the restarting of an application after an intended or unintended shutdown.

Claims

1. A method of restoring application state after application shutdown, comprising: storing data representing an application settings state;receiving an indication that operation of the application is terminated;retrieving the stored data representing the application settings state; andrestarting the application to an application settings state according to the stored data representing the application settings state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein storing data representing the application settings state includes storing data representing any displayed application user interface components, including data representing a position, a size and any displayed sub-components of the any displayed application user interface components; andwherein restarting the application to an application settings state according to the stored data representing the application settings state includes deploying the any displayed user interface components after restarting the application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein storing data representing the application settings state includes storing data representing the application settings state at a periodic frequency during operation of the application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein storing data representing an application settings state includes storing data representing an application settings state when an indication that operation of the application is to be terminated is received.

5. The method of claim 4, prior to receiving an indication that operation of the application is terminated, receiving an indication that operation of the application is to be terminated.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the indication that operation of the application is to be terminated includes receiving the indication that operation of the application is to be terminated from a restart manager module.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing any user data deployed via the application prior to receiving an indication that operation of the application is terminated.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein storing any user data deployed via the application includes storing any user data deployed via the application at a periodic frequency during operation of the application.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein storing any user data deployed via the application includes storing any user data deployed via the application upon receipt of an indication that operation of the application is to be terminated.

10. The method of claim 7, after restarting the application to an application settings state according to the stored data representing the application settings state, deploying via the restarted application, the any user data deployed via the application prior to receiving an indication that operation of the application is terminated.

11. The method of claim 10, prior to deploying via the restarted application, the any user data deployed via the application prior to receiving an indication that operation of the application is terminated, retrieving the stored any user data.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein storing any user data deployed via the application prior to receiving an indication that operation of the application is terminated includes storing electronic calendar data to an electronic calendar data storage site.

13. A computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions which when executed by a computer perform a method of restoring application state after application shutdown, comprising: storing data representing an application settings state;storing any user data displayed via the application;receiving an indication that operation of the application is terminated;retrieving the stored data representing the application settings state;retrieving the stored any user data displayed via the application;restarting the application to an application settings state according to the stored data representing the application settings state; anddisplaying via the restarted application, the any user data displayed via the application.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein storing data representing the application settings state includes storing data representing any displayed application user interface components, including data representing a position, a size and any displayed sub-components of the any displayed application user interface components; andwherein restarting the application to an application settings state according to the stored data representing the application settings state includes deploying the any displayed user interface components after restarting the application.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein storing data representing the application settings state includes storing data representing the application settings state at a periodic frequency during operation of the application.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein storing data representing an application settings state includes storing data representing an application settings state when an indication that operation of the application is to be terminated is received.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein storing any user data displayed via the application includes storing electronic calendar data to an electronic calendar data storage site.

18. A computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions which when executed by a computer perform a method of restoring application state after application shutdown, comprising; storing electronic calendar data displayed via an electronic calendar application to an electronic calendar data storage site;receiving an indication that operation of the electronic calendar application is terminated;retrieving the stored electronic calendar data;restarting the electronic calendar application to an application settings state for the electronic calendar prior to receiving an indication that operation of the electronic calendar application is terminated; anddisplaying via the restarted electronic calendar application, the stored electronic calendar data.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein storing electronic calendar data displayed via an electronic calendar application to an electronic calendar data storage site includes storing electronic calendar data displayed via an electronic calendar application to an electronic calendar data storage site in response to receiving an indication that operation of the electronic calendar application is to be terminated.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein storing electronic calendar data displayed via an electronic calendar application to an electronic calendar data storage site includes storing electronic calendar data displayed via an electronic calendar application to an electronic calendar data storage site at a periodic frequency during operation of the electronic calendar application.