Claims
- 1. A data structure embodied on a computer-readable medium and configured for use in exposing commands in a software application program, the data structure comprising:
a root node having a value; and multiple nodes associated with the root node each of which having a value, the root node and multiple nodes being arranged to defined various parent/child relationships and collectively representing an expression that defines a condition that describes one or more aspects of a user's interaction with the application program; each of the multiple nodes representing either an operation or an operand, individual multiple nodes being configured in a manner such that:
a change in value generates a notification to the node's parent; and a notification of a change in value from a child node causes a re-evaluation of the node's value; the root node being configured such that a change in its value causes either the automatic display or removal of a set of context-sensitive commands that are appropriate for the user's context within the application program.
- 2. One or more computer-readable media embodying a data structure comprising:
a tree having nodes associated with and representing either an operation or an operand, said nodes collectively describing conditions associated with a user's interaction with an application-provided document; said nodes being configured for evaluation responsive to a user's interaction with the application-provided document such that context blocks automatically appear and disappear responsive to the user's context within a document.
- 3. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein at least some of said context blocks expose multiple commands for selection by the user.
- 4. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein individual context blocks comprise a title bar area and a controls area with multiple selectable commands.
- 5. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein at least some context blocks are modeless.
- 6. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein at least some of said nodes are configured for evaluation to cause only context blocks that are pertinent to a user's selection within the application-provided document to automatically appear.
- 7. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein the nodes collectively define Boolean expressions that describe conditions associated with the user's interaction with the application-provided document.
- 8. One or more computer-readable media embodying a data structure comprising:
expression-based means that represent and describe conditions associated with a user's interaction with an application-provided document; and said expression-based means being configured for evaluation responsive to a user's interaction with the application-provided document such that context blocks automatically appear and disappear responsive to the user's context within a document.
- 9. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 8, wherein each context block is associated with a respective expression-based means.
- 10. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 8, wherein said expression-based means comprise Boolean expression-based means.
- 11. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 8, wherein said expression-based means comprises a tree structure.
- 12. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 8, wherein each context block is associated with a respective expression-based means, and wherein, for at least one expression-based means, only a portion of an associated expression need be evaluated for an associated context block to appear or disappear.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional application of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/599,086, filed on Jun. 21, 2000, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0002] In addition, the following patent applications are related to the present application, are assigned to the assignee of this patent application, and are expressly incorporated by reference herein:
[0003] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/599,298, entitled “Single Window Navigation Methods and Systems”, bearing attorney docket number MS1-560us, and filed on the same date as this patent application;
[0004] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/599,806, entitled “Methods and Systems of Providing Information to Computer Users”, bearing attorney docket number MS1-557us, and filed on the same date as this patent application;
[0005] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/599,299, entitled “Methods, Systems, Architectures and Data Structures For Delivering Software via a Network”, bearing attorney docket number MS1-559us, and filed on the same date as this patent application;
[0006] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/599,048, entitled “Network-based Software Extensions”, bearing attorney docket number MS1-563us, and filed on the same date as this patent application;
[0007] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/599,813, entitled “Authoring Arbitrary XML Documents Using DHTML and XSLT”, bearing attorney docket number MS1-583us, and filed on the same date as this patent application;
[0008] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/599,812, entitled “Architectures For And Methods Of Providing Network-based Software Extensions”, bearing attorney docket number MS1-586us, and filed on the same date as this patent application.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09599086 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10898656 |
Jul 2004 |
US |