Patent Application
20070006206
With the advent of the computer age, computer and software users have grown accustomed to user-friendly software applications that help them write, calculate, organize, prepare presentations, send and receive electronic mail, make music, and the like. For example, modern electronic word processing applications allow users to prepare a variety of useful documents. Modern spreadsheet applications allow users to enter, manipulate, and organize data. Modern electronic slide presentation applications allow users to create a variety of slide presentations containing text, pictures, data or other useful objects. Modern database applications allow users to store, organize and exchange large amounts of data.
Most software applications provide one or more graphical user interfaces through which a user enters and edits data and from which the user accesses and utilizes various functionalities of the associated software application. A typical user interface includes a work area in which data may be entered, edited, and reviewed. Additionally, user interfaces typically include one or more buttons and/or controls operative for selecting the functionalities provided by the associated software application. For example, buttons or controls may be provided for printing or saving a document, buttons or controls may be provided for applying formatting properties to aspects of a document, and the like.
Often, a third party software developer creates a software add-in that may be added to an existing application for providing functionality not available from the existing application. For example, an add-in software application may provide a feature to a word processing application for adding specialized footnotes or endnotes to a document. Typically, in addition to providing additional functionality, the add-in application provides one or more new user interface components to the existing application user interfaces, such as a new toolbar, button(s), or other control(s), for accessing the additional functionality. A problem occurs when new versions of the existing applications are created in which user interfaces are changed so that the add-in user interfaces are no longer compatible with the user interfaces of the existing software applications. Unless the developers of the add-in applications change their add-in user interfaces to match the new user interfaces of the existing applications, the functionality of the add-in applications may not be exposed to users.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Embodiments of the present invention solve the above and other problems by providing methods, systems, and computer products for exposing the functionalities provided in add-in software application user interfaces in otherwise incompatible user interfaces of existing applications (hereinafter referred to as “parent applications”) to which the add-in applications are applied. According to an embodiment of the invention, when a user interface of a parent application is modified such that a user interface of an add-in application applied to the parent application is not compatible with the parent application user interface, buttons or controls associated with functionalities of the add-in application are added to the new or modified parent application user interface in a manner that are consistent with the visual and functional properties of the present parent user interface.
The present (new or otherwise modified) user interface of the parent application is run in the foreground by the parent application and is visible to users. A prior user interface of the parent application to which the add-in application user interface is compatible and to which the add-in application user interface components (e.g., buttons or controls) are added is run in a background of the parent application, but is not visible to users. Buttons or controls associated with the add-in application that are added to the new or modified parent application user interface are linked to corresponding buttons or controls of the add-in application that are added to and run in the background prior user interface of the parent application. For example, if a menu command is added to the background prior user interface by an add-in application, then a corresponding command or control is added to the present user interface in a manner that is consistent with the present user interface layout and functionality.
User interface components added to or changed in the background running prior user interface are mapped or linked to user interface components added to the present user interface by addition of the add-in application to the parent application. When a user selects a user interface component from the present user interface that is associated with an add-in application functionality, the corresponding user interface component in the background running prior user interface is selected via a link between the add-in user interface component in the present parent application user interface and the corresponding user interface component in the background prior user interface component. In response, the associated functionality of the add-in application is executed. Thus, a developer of the add-in application does not have to update or modify the add-in application user interface components to comply with a new or modified user interface of the parent application that otherwise would be incompatible with the add-in application user interface.
These and other features and advantages, which characterize the present invention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.
As briefly described above, embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods, systems, and computer products for exposing functionalities of an add-in software application in a user interface of a parent application to which the add-in software application is applied where user interface components of the add-in application are not compatible with a present version of the user interface provided by the parent application. In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustrations specific embodiments or examples. These embodiments may be combined, other embodiments may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like elements through the several figures, aspects of the present invention and an exemplary computing operating environment will be described.
Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe 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 computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a computer process (method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readable media. The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process.
With reference to
According to embodiments of the invention, the application 106 may comprise many types of programs, such as an electronic mail program, a calendaring program, an Internet browsing program, and the like. An example of such programs is OUTLOOK® manufactured by MICROSOFT CORPORATION. The application 106 may also comprise a multiple-functionality software application for providing many other types of functionalities. Such a multiple-functionality application may include a number of program modules, such as a word processing program, a spreadsheet program, a slide presentation program, a database program, and the like. An example of such a multiple-functionality application is OFFICE™ manufactured by MICROSOFT CORPORATION. According to embodiments of the present invention, the applications 106 are illustrative of any software application for which a user interface may be changed such that it is no longer compatible with an add-in user interface of an add-in software application applied to the applications. The add-in software application 120 may comprise any software application that may be added to the applications 106 for enhancing or providing additional functionality to the applications 106 as described herein. In addition, an add-in software application, as described herein, may include document-based software solutions, for example, a spreadsheet document that includes attached toolbars, or a word processing document that contains a macro or other code that adds a toolbar with buttons or controls.
The computing device 100 may have additional features or functionality. For example, the computing device 100 may also include additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in
The computing device 100 may also contain communication connections 116 that allow the device to communicate with other computing devices 1118, such as over a network in a distributed computing environment, for example, an intranet or the Internet. Communication connection 116 is one example of communication media. Communication media may typically be embodied by computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. The term computer readable media as used herein includes both storage media and communication media.
Referring now to
As illustrated in
According to prior methods and systems, if the user interface components 200, 230 illustrated in
However, when the user interface components of the parent application 106 are modified as often occurs in a new version of the parent application such that the user interface components of the add-in application 120 are no longer compatible with the organization, layout, and functionality of the user interface components of the parent application, the add-in application user interface components may not be surfaced to a user of the parent application. That is, the add-in application user interface components may not be visually presented in the user interface of the parent application for selection by a user. For example, if a new or modified user interface of the parent application does not utilize toolbars of functionality buttons or controls, the parent application user interface may not have an area or section into which the buttons or controls of an add-in application toolbar may be added or to which an add-in application toolbar may be appended or otherwise associated.
Referring now to
According to
The logical groupings of functionality buttons or controls may contain one or more buttons or controls associated with a subtask under the main task. For example, if a task associated with the creating slides tab 310 is selected, the UI component 335 may be populated with one or more logical groupings of functionality buttons or controls for creating slide presentation slides. One logical grouping of buttons or controls in the UI component 335 may be associated with generating new slides. A second logical grouping may include buttons or controls associated with display orientations of created slides. If a different tab 315 is selected for providing functionalities associated with a different task that may be performed with the example slide presentation application, the UI component 335 will be populated with one or more logical groupings of functionality buttons or controls associated with the second selected tab and associated task.
As should be appreciated, the user interface 300 illustrated in
According to embodiments of the present invention, in order to utilize the functionality of the add-in application 120, and in order to present user interface components in the new user interface 300 associated with the add-in application, a new component 330, for example the “Add-ins” tab, is created to surface user interface components in the present user interface that are added by the add-in application. As illustrated in
According to another embodiment, the UI component 335 may be populated with icons associated with buttons or controls 210, 215, 220 contained in the add-in application user interface toolbar 200. Selection of one of the buttons or controls 210, 215, 220 displayed in the UI component 335 may cause the UI component 335 to then be populated with one or more logical groupings of functionality buttons or controls normally displayed in the drop-down menu 230 of command menus available under a selected toolbar button or control.
According to another embodiment, the Add-ins tab 330 may selectively provide in the UI component 335 logical groupings of functionality buttons or controls associated with different add-in applications. For example, a first logical grouping 345 may be associated with functionality buttons or controls for a first add-in application 120, a second logical grouping 347 may include functionality buttons or controls associated with a second add-in application, and so on. For example, a first application add-in may provide enhanced functionality for providing endnotes and footnotes to a word processing or slide presentation application. A second application add-in may provide functionality for desktop publishing formatting properties for applying to a word processing application, slide presentation application, or spreadsheet application, and the like.
Referring now to
According to embodiments of the present invention, when new user interface components are added to or changed in the background running prior user interface by addition of the add-in application, corresponding user interface components are added to the present user interface of the parent application, and the new user interface components added to or changed in the background running prior user interface are mapped or linked to user interface components added to the present user interface of the parent application. According to one embodiment, buttons or controls in the parent application user interface are linked to corresponding buttons or controls in the background user interface 410 by embedding in a given button or control in the parent user interface 300 a path to an associated button or control in the background user interface 410. A selection of a button or control from the parent user interface 300 causes a call along the path to the corresponding button or control in the background user interface that causes selection or execution of the corresponding button or control in the background user interface 410.
As described above, when the parent application is running, the prior version user interface 410 is operated in a background mode so that it is not visible to a user. When a button or control is selected from the new user interface 300, for example, by a mouse cursor click 420, the corresponding functionality button or control in the background running prior user interface 410 is selected for actually executing the associated functionality of the add-in application. For example, if a button or control associated with a formatting functionality is selected in the new or present user interface 300 that is associated with a formatting functionality of an add-in application 120, the button or control in the prior user interface 410 that is mapped to the selected button or control is automatically selected as if selected by an example mouse cursor click 425. In response, the associated functionality of the add-in application is executed.
According to the present invention, the add-in application is not aware that the selected and executed functionality was executed by selection of a button or control displayed in the new or present user interface 300 of the parent application. That is, the add-in application is only aware that a button or control associated with the executed functionality has been selected from the user interface components 200, 230 provided by the add-in application. Thus, the add-in application does not have to be modified or updated to be compatible with the new or modified user interface components of the parent application.
According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, if the user interface of the add-in user interface components 200, 230 are operative to function as standalone user interfaces without being integrated into the parent application user interface, the add-in user interface components 200, 230 are not applied to the prior user interface 410, as illustrated in
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or variations may be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein.
