Patent Application
20100262678
A single-purpose application (SPA) is an interactive software component that provides a specific service to a user or other consumer. An SPA can display to the user various types of information, such as news headlines, local temperature and weather conditions, the current time, and a calendar, for example. Typical SPAs retrieve the aforementioned types of information from feeds available from a viewable website or other web-based service. SPAs present the information to the user in a compact and easy-to-understand interface.
SPAs are occasionally referred to as “widgets” or “gadgets” and can reside on a desktop or sidebar of a client device (e.g., a personal computer or the like) or can appear within a web page displayed on a web browser, or in another HTML-based interactive environment. Proprietary SPAs can be produced by web-based service providers or software producers, and can be used to promote a company products and/or services. SPAs thus provide users with ease of access to useful information such as key performance indicators, and the like.
Typically, SPAs are manually configured by the user to point to a selected resource on the Internet from which the SPA retrieves data. For example, if a user chooses to use a “company stock” SPA to monitor the price of a particular company stock, the user can interact with a settings or configuration dialog that enables the new stock to be added to the SPA. The company stock symbol is typed into a text box. If the user does not know the specific stock symbol, the user can type in the company name, initiate a search, and select the company from the results.
The aforementioned procedure entails several user-initiated steps that prompt specific proactive efforts from the user in order to configure a stock-oriented SPA. This can be inconvenient and inefficient for a user when certain information is not readily available. Similar problems can be encountered with configuring other types of SPAs.
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some novel embodiments described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
To that end, architecture is disclosed for facilitating configuration of a single-purpose application (SPA). Instead of a complex manual configuration process, the user accesses a web page associated with the SPA where the user is presented with a menu selection of buttons or check boxes corresponding to various configuration settings or parameters (e.g., one or more particular stocks to be tracked). The user enters an identification at the website. Upon making one or more selections from the menu selection on the associated web page, the configuration settings corresponding to the selections are automatically added to the SPA. In this way, close integration is provided between the SPA and the associated website, allowing a simplified arrangement for the user to configure the SPA.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be practiced and all aspects and equivalents thereof are intended to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
The disclosed architecture provides users with an easy and convenient interface for configuring a single-purpose application (SPA). An identification component is provided that obtains an identity associated with a user operating a client device. An SPA is retained on the client device that receives information for display from a website. The SPA receives requested information from a web service. A user interface (UI) is incorporated into the website for enabling the user to enter configuration information of the SPA. Subsequently, the configured SPA receives the requested information from the web service based on the identity associated with the user.
The architecture finds particular applicability to enterprise performance monitoring and management. For example, SPAs can be configured to access corporate KPI (key performance indicator) data such as accounts, finances, sales, etc., via UI elements such as menus and other web page features for quick selection and setup of the SPAs, for example.
The architecture can include a storage component for storing the SPA configuration information at a remote location (e.g., web server and/or client device). In this manner, the configuration information can be saved locally or remotely, and can thereby be backed up to assist the user in the event of a problem with the SPA or the client device. A communications component can also be employed for refreshing the requested information to the SPA from the web service. In this fashion, the requested information (e.g., a stock, a weather update, or news-related item) can be periodically updated to provide the user with the latest information.
The identification component can include login and password entry fields on the user interface component of the website. Additionally, the UI can include a score card interface for providing multiple configuration selections. A web server can be used for hosting the website and providing the web service to the SPA. The client device can be any suitable device, such as a desktop or portable computer, including a handheld computing device or a cell phone, for example.
Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the novel embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter.
As also illustrated in
The SPA 110 includes configuration information 208 that incorporates the settings of the SPA 110. The configuration information 208 can be a portion of HTML or javascript that includes a URL (uniform resource locator) pointing to a source for data to be presented in the SPA 110. As illustrated in
As also illustrated in
In another aspect, the user interface element 304 can include a drop down menu displayed on the website 104. One or more selection items on the drop down menu can include information to add to the SPA 110 (e.g., a specific stock to be tracked). The SPA 110 automatically pulls in configuration information to monitor that information of the menu. It is to be appreciated that the SPA 110 and the website 104 can be co-authored to work cooperatively.
As also illustrated in
As described herein, the system 100 provides ease-of-use for the user when adding information to an SPA 110, particularly when the addition of information is a multi-step process performed through a typical configuration interface. This ease-of-use is achieved through functionality of the website 104 created for integration with a particular SPA 110 and having configuration information that can be stored on the client device 306, instead of or in addition to storing the configuration information on a web server.
As also illustrated in
As illustrated in
As described herein, the SPA can be implemented using web technologies and also make use of any suitable APIs available in a system namespace dedicated to SPAs. In order to implement an SPA in accordance with the herein disclosed embodiments, a related website includes the ability to uniquely identify the user and/or the user device. The website has a web service available for communication with the SPA. The SPA is able to utilize a URL to a web service associated with the website and the identity of the user, which is the same identity that the website uses. This can be performed automatically via an operating system authentication procedure performed on the website. The SPA “refreshes” itself at pre-defined intervals. These intervals can optionally be configurable by the user. The SPA can also provide the user with the ability to manually initiate a refresh at any time.
In addition to the aforementioned, the user abides with certain prerequisites in order to implement an SPA in accordance with the herein disclosed embodiments. A user downloads and installs the SPA from the website and completes initial configuration. These include selecting the URL to the website, entering the user ID (which can be automatic under an operating system authentication procedure), and optionally, establishing a refresh interval for the SPA.
Included herein is a set of flow charts representative of exemplary methodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosed architecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the one or more methodologies shown herein, for example, in the form of a flow chart or flow diagram, are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a methodology may be required for a novel implementation.
At 1002, the system waits for input. At 1004, upon performing a “refresh” operation (automatically, because a refresh interval expired, or manually, as initiated by the user), the SPA calls the web service on the website and requests the indicated information. At 1006, the server returns any pending request entries indicated in the database (which can be XML documents). At 1008, the SPA checks for pending requests. If yes, flow is from 1010 to 1012, where the SPA processes the pending requests, and the SPA adds the pending requests into the local configuration file, at 1014, using an available API (e.g., a system.SPA.settings API). From 1012, flow can be to 1016, where the pending request entries in the server database are deleted. Thereafter, flow resumes from 1010 as if no pending requests exist.
At 1018, a check is made by the SPA of its local configuration file to determine if there are more items to update. If no, flow returns from 1020 to the waiting state, at 1002. If yes, flow is from 1020 to 1022, where the SPA refreshes an item of information that is being displayed by getting the latest information from the web server for an item to be displayed by the SPA. At 1024, a new item is displayed in the SPA. Flow returns back to 1018 to check for more items to update, until each item of information is refreshed, including new items. The actions associated with steps 1006, 1016 and 1022 can be web service calls.
As used in this application, the terms “component” and “system” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (of optical, solid state, and/or magnetic storage medium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. The word “exemplary” may be used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.
Referring now to
The computing system 1100 for implementing various aspects includes the computer 1102 having processing unit(s) 1104, a system memory 1106, and a system bus 1108. The processing unit(s) 1104 can be any of various commercially available processors such as single-processor, multi-processor, single-core units and multi-core units. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the novel methods can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers (e.g., desktop, laptop, etc.), hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can be operatively coupled to one or more associated devices.
The system memory 1106 can include volatile (VOL) memory 1110 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) and non-volatile memory (NON-VOL) 1112 (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.). A basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory 1112, and includes the basic routines that facilitate the communication of data and signals between components within the computer 1102, such as during startup. The volatile memory 1110 can also include a high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.
The system bus 1108 provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the memory subsystem 1106 to the processing unit(s) 1104. The system bus 1108 can be any of several types of bus structure that can further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), and a peripheral bus (e.g., PCI, PCIe, AGP, LPC, etc.), using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures.
The computer 1102 further includes storage subsystem(s) 1114 and storage interface(s) 1116 for interfacing the storage subsystem(s) 1114 to the system bus 1108 and other desired computer components. The storage subsystem(s) 1114 can include one or more of a hard disk drive (HDD), a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD), and/or optical disk storage drive (e.g., a CD-ROM drive DVD drive), for example. The storage interface(s) 1116 can include interface technologies such as EIDE, ATA, SATA, and IEEE 1394, for example.
One or more programs and data can be stored in the memory subsystem 1106, a removable memory subsystem 1118 (e.g., flash drive form factor technology), and/or the storage subsystem(s) 1114 (e.g., optical, magnetic, solid state), including an operating system 1120, one or more application programs 1122, other program modules 1124, and program data 1126.
Generally, programs include routines, methods, data structures, other software components, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. All or portions of the operating system 1120, applications 1122, modules 1124, and/or data 1126 can also be cached in memory such as the volatile memory 1110, for example. It is to be appreciated that the disclosed architecture can be implemented with various commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems (e.g., as virtual machines).
The aforementioned application programs 1122, program modules 1124, and program data 1126 can include the computer-implemented configuration system 100 of
The aforementioned application programs 1122, program modules 1124, and program data 1126 can include the computer-implemented configuration system 400 of
The aforementioned application programs 1122, program modules 1124, and program data 1126 can also include the flow diagram and entities of
The storage subsystem(s) 1114 and memory subsystems (1106 and 1118) serve as computer readable media for volatile and non-volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer 1102 and includes volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. For the computer 1102, the media accommodate the storage of data in any suitable digital format. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media can be employed such as zip drives, magnetic tape, flash memory cards, cartridges, and the like, for storing computer executable instructions for performing the novel methods of the disclosed architecture.
A user can interact with the computer 1102, programs, and data using external user input devices 1128 such as a keyboard and a mouse. Other external user input devices 1128 can include a microphone, an IR (infrared) remote control, a joystick, a game pad, camera recognition systems, a stylus pen, touch screen, gesture systems (e.g., eye movement, head movement, etc.), and/or the like. The user can interact with the computer 1102, programs, and data using onboard user input devices 1130 such a touchpad, microphone, keyboard, etc., where the computer 1102 is a portable computer, for example. These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit(s) 1104 through input/output (I/O) device interface(s) 1132 via the system bus 1108, but can be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc. The I/O device interface(s) 1132 also facilitate the use of output peripherals 1134 such as printers, audio devices, camera devices, and so on, such as a sound card and/or onboard audio processing capability.
One or more graphics interface(s) 1136 (also commonly referred to as a graphics processing unit (GPU)) provide graphics and video signals between the computer 1102 and external display(s) 1138 (e.g., LCD, plasma) and/or onboard displays 1140 (e.g., for portable computer). The graphics interface(s) 1136 can also be manufactured as part of the computer system board.
The computer 1102 can operate in a networked environment (e.g., IP) using logical connections via a wired/wireless communications subsystem 1142 to one or more networks and/or other computers. The other computers can include workstations, servers, routers, personal computers, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typically include many or all of the elements described relative to the computer 1102. The logical connections can include wired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), hotspot, and so on. LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and companies and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network such as the Internet.
When used in a networking environment the computer 1102 connects to the network via a wired/wireless communication subsystem 1142 (e.g., a network interface adapter, onboard transceiver subsystem, etc.) to communicate with wired/wireless networks, wired/wireless printers, wired/wireless input devices 1144, and so on. The computer 1102 can include a modem or has other means for establishing communications over the network. In a networked environment, programs and data relative to the computer 1102 can be stored in the remote memory/storage device, as is associated with a distributed system. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used.
The computer 1102 is operable to communicate with wired/wireless devices or entities using the radio technologies such as the IEEE 802.xx family of standards, such as wireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 over-the-air modulation techniques) with, for example, a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), communications satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand, restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity) for hotspots, WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wireless technologies. Thus, the communications can be a predefined structure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11x (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks (which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).
Wi-Fi networks can operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands. IEEE 802.11 applies to generally to wireless LANs and provides 1 or 2 Mbps transmission in the 2.4 GHz band using either frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) or direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS). IEEE 802.11a is an extension to IEEE 802.11 that applies to wireless LANs and provides up to 54 Mbps in the 5 GHz band. IEEE 802.11a uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) encoding scheme rather than FHSS or DSSS. IEEE 802.11b (also referred to as 802.11 High Rate DSSS or Wi-Fi) is an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANs and provides 11 Mbps transmission (with a fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps) in the 2.4 GHz band. IEEE 802.11g applies to wireless LANs and provides 20+Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. Products can contain more than one band (e.g., dual band), so the networks can provide real-world performance similar to the basic 10 BaseT wire Ethernet networks used in many offices.
The illustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in local and/or remote storage and/or memory system.
Referring now to
The environment 1200 also includes one or more server(s) 1204. The server(s) 1204 can also be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers 1204 can house threads to perform transformations by employing the architecture, for example. One possible communication between a client 1202 and a server 1204 can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The data packet may include a cookie and/or associated contextual information, for example. The environment 1200 includes a communication framework 1206 (e.g., a global communication network such as the Internet) that can be employed to facilitate communications between the client(s) 1202 and the server(s) 1204.
Communications can be facilitated via a wire (including optical fiber) and/or wireless technology. The client(s) 1202 are operatively connected to one or more client data store(s) 1208 that can be employed to store information local to the client(s) 1202 (e.g., cookie(s) and/or associated contextual information). Similarly, the server(s) 1204 are operatively connected to one or more server data store(s) 1210 that can be employed to store information local to the servers 1204.
What has been described above includes examples of the disclosed architecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components and/or methodologies, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
