Patent Grant
7571391
The present invention relates to data processing by digital computer, and more particularly to the rendering of a user interface (UI) in a client program.
Client-server applications typically include an application component running on a server computer, and a client program running on a client computer. The client program renders a UI through which a user can interact with the application.
User interaction with the UI, as well as server updates to the UI, can require the UI visualization (or portions thereof) to be re-rendered. Such re-rendering can be time-consuming.
The present invention provides methods, system and apparatus, including computer program products, for rendering a user interface in a client program. In general, in one aspect, the techniques include detecting multiple changes to a user interface of a computer program, the user interface having multiple user interface elements, each change being a change to one of the multiple user interface elements; generating a rendering request for each change, each rendering request specifying the user interface element that has changed and a type of modification to be performed on the user interface element; and filtering the requests to eliminate redundant requests.
Advantageous implementions include one or more of the following features. Each rendering request is a request to modify a data structure representing the user interface. The data structure is a document object model representation of the user interface. The type of modification is a complete re-rendering of the user interface element. The type of modification is an update of one or more, but not all, of the attributes of the user interface element. The operations further comprise rendering the user interface based on the filtered requests.
In general, in another aspect, the system includes a Web page rendered in a Web browser, the Web page including one or more user interface elements; a document object model representation of the Web page, and a framework running in the browser. The framework includes one or more trees that store the visualization of the Web page, each user interface element being associated with a portion of the document object model representation and with a portion of the tree; and a filtering mechanism for filtering rendering requests, each rendering request specifying a user interface element that has changed and a type of modification to be performed on the portion of the document object model representation associated with the specified user interface element. In one implementation, the trees include a UI tree, a data tree, or both.
The invention can be implemented to realize one or more of the following advantages. Filtering duplicative rendering requests can reduce, and in some cases eliminate, redundant rendering, thereby increasing system performance and improving the user's experience (e.g., due to faster response time or reduced flickering of the user interface). Application developers do not need to write code to implement selective rendering functionality for each application; instead, such functionality can be automatically provided by a framework on the client computer. One implementation of the invention provides all of the foregoing advantages.
The details of one or more implementations of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Further features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
As shown in
Each UI element has a visualization that is defined by a view state, a data state, or both. The visual properties of the UI element define the view state of the UI element. Examples of visual properties include the visibility of a tray control (e.g., expanded or collapsed), or the scroll position of a table control. Data associated with the control defines the data state of the control. The data can include different types of data including strings, booleans, or objects (e.g., Java.util.date objects).
User or server actions may cause the visualization of the UI to change. User actions can include, for example, user entry of data into a text field, user selection of a radio button, or user manipulation of a scroll bar. Server actions can include, for example, a server response to a request from the client. When the visualization of the UI changes, portions (and in some cases all) of the rendered UI may need to be re-rendered to reflect the changes.
Before the UI is re-rendered to reflect the changes, a filtering mechanism 140 filters the changes to eliminate redundancies. As shown in
Once all the rendering requests for a given user or server action have been generated, the filtering mechanism filters the requests to eliminate redundant requests (step 220). A redundant request is a request that is identical to or a subset of another request. In the example of
The filtering mechanism then processes the remaining requests, for example, by delivering the requests to the client program 120 which then re-renders or modifies the UI based on the requests (step 230). In the example of
In one implementation 400, as shown in
The server response generally includes code, for example, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) code, that specifies how to render the Web page. For some Web pages, rendering the Web page involves generating a DOM (Document Object Model) 430 representation of the Web page. The DOM is a programming interface that provides access to and manipulation of the Web page. The DOM exposes a hierarchical view of the Web page. Each UI element in the Web page is represented by and bound to a node in the DOM hierarchy. When the DOM hierarchy is modified, the UI is re-rendered to reflect the modified DOM.
In the implementation of
If the request is from a new client, the server response also includes code for establishing a client-side framework 440 in the Web browser. The framework code can -include client-side scripting code such as, for example, JavaScript or VBScript code. The framework code can be embedded in the code for the Web page or stored as a separate file that is referenced by the code for the Web page. The framework code can be generated based on metadata for the application that is running on the server. Once the framework is established, it persists for multiple request-response cycles.
The framework includes one or more data structures 450 (e.g., UI trees and/or data trees) that store the current visualization of the Web page. For example,
The Web page 500 includes a first view (list view) 510 and a second view (detail view) 520. The list view includes a UI element table control 530 to list customers, and the detail view includes a first input field ID 540 and second input field SALES ORDERS 550 to list the ID and sales orders for a given customer.
The UI tree 600 has a root node 610 that represents the overall page and child nodes 620 that represent the UI elements contained in the Web page 500. The child nodes include nodes 630, 640 that correspond to the views (DETAIL, LIST). Each child node 630, 640 has further child nodes that correspond to the nested views and controls in the Web page 500.
The data tree 700 has a root node 710 that represents the customer data and child nodes 720 that store the ID, name, and sales orders for each customer. The arrows illustrate the bindings between the data tree 700, the UI tree 600 and the Web page 500.
In the implementation of
Once the update is complete, the system 100 iterates through the list and delivers each request to the UI element specified in the request. Once all the requests have been delivered, each UI element filters its own set of requests as described above with reference to the filtering mechanism 140, which in this implementation 400, is performed by the UI elements themselves.
The invention can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. The invention can be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. A computer program can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.
Method steps of the invention can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing a computer program to perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output. Method steps can also be performed by, and apparatus of the invention can be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).
Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in special purpose logic circuitry.
To provide for interaction with a user, the invention can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.
The invention can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the invention, or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet.
The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.
The invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, although the invention has been described with reference to visual rendering, the techniques can be used to render or generate other types of output, for example, auditory output. Furthermore, the steps of the invention can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5860071 | Ball et al. | Jan 1999 | A |
| 5907681 | Bates et al. | May 1999 | A |
| 5918014 | Robinson | Jun 1999 | A |
| 5931904 | Banga et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
| 5956709 | Xue | Sep 1999 | A |
| 6272493 | Pasquali | Aug 2001 | B1 |
| 6366933 | Ball et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
| 6636242 | Bowman-Amuah | Oct 2003 | B2 |
| 6950990 | Rajarajan et al. | Sep 2005 | B2 |
| 6973625 | Lupo et al. | Dec 2005 | B1 |
| 6983421 | Lahti et al. | Jan 2006 | B1 |
| 6993572 | Ross et al. | Jan 2006 | B2 |
| 7028262 | Estrada et al. | Apr 2006 | B2 |
| 7188342 | DeMello et al. | Mar 2007 | B2 |
| 7434203 | Stienhans et al. | Oct 2008 | B2 |
| 7472171 | Miller et al. | Dec 2008 | B2 |
| 20020049637 | Harman et al. | Apr 2002 | A1 |
| 20030120599 | Agboatwalla et al. | Jun 2003 | A1 |
| 20030189593 | Yarvin | Oct 2003 | A1 |
| 20040122971 | Joshi et al. | Jun 2004 | A1 |
| 20040258089 | Derechin et al. | Dec 2004 | A1 |
| 20070180432 | Gassner et al. | Aug 2007 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050086608 A1 | Apr 2005 | US |
