Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

David P Relyea

Sujal S Parikh

Lauren B Lavoie

Martha M Rotter

David R Fulmer

Vivek Bapuji Dalvi

Kusuma P Vellanki

Weibing Zhan

Michael J Antonio

Marco Antonio Matos

Christopher R Kempke

Pranav Goel

Chris J Crosetto

Ashish S Shetty

Eric W Harding

Zhan Weibing

User interface frameworks may provide an environment for developers to design and arrange user interface elements within a design layout to create a user interface. Many times UI elements comprise non-integer size values (e.g., height, width, position, etc.) due to text, user specified data, and/or centering, for example. Rendering UI elements at non-integer size values may create display artifacts because of sub-pixel rendering. Accordingly, as provided herein, a set of rules may be applied during design layout to non-integer size values to create integer size values (e.g., non-integer size values may be rounded to the nearest integer). Using integer size values in arranging UI elements within a design layout, allows undesirable display artifacts to be mitigated during rendering.

Layout of user interface elements

A content display system is described herein that combines the positive attributes of brushes and web content by allowing web content to be applied as a brush. The content display system renders web content and creates a bitmap of the rendered web content. The bitmap of the web content as rendered by a web host is captured and used as the pixels for a web brush. The brush can be used wherever other types of brushes can be used. In some embodiments, the brush content is refreshed under control of the application. Web content provided through a brush is much more versatile than simply compositing rendered HTML with other visuals. Thus, the content display system allows applications to display web content inside an application sandbox or other platform using the familiar form to application developers of a brush.

Rendering web content with a brush

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for managing layout updates to user interface elements. A dirty state of user interface elements is tracked in a tree with multiple nodes of user interface elements. The dirty state allows dirty subtrees of the nodes to be identified. A root node is identified for each of the dirty subtrees. Affected portions of the tree are updated, starting with the root node that was identified for each of the dirty subtrees. As part of the update process, changes to ancestor nodes are detected and used to make a layout process more efficient. For example, any layout processes that are currently being performed on any descendant nodes of a changed ancestor are abandoned, and the layout process is resumed at the changed ancestor. After updating affected portions of the tree, the updated user interface elements are then rendered on an output device.

Layout manager

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed that allow a user interface in a managed runtime environment to display content from two or more different partitioned process spaces. A software application having a user interface operates a managed runtime environment. A window handle allows a user interface of the application to display content from different partitioned process spaces at a same time. Information from the partitioned process spaces can be integrated within the user interface while preserving a level of isolation between the partitioned process spaces. This is accomplished by providing a first portion of a content container for the user interface with a host control that contains the window handle and resides in a first partitioned process space of a main window. A second portion of the content container is provided with a source control that provides the window handle and resides in a second partitioned process space.

Isolating, managing and communicating with user interface elements

A system and method for utilizing a first managed process to host at least a second managed process is disclosed. The technology initially provides a first managed process. The first managed process hosting at least a second managed process. An unmanaged process is then provided to facilitate communication between the first managed process and the second managed process, such that a user can automatically communicate with the first managed process while the second managed process is operational and the first managed process is in the background without requiring the user to select the first managed process.

Utilizing a first managed process to host at least a second managed process

Described is a technology by which application-related resources are differentiated from other types of resources via a uniform resource identifier (URI) associated with each resource. Application-related resources may include a resource embedded in the application program, at least one content file associated with (e.g., distributed with) the application program, or a resource located on a site from which the application program was deployed. Because of the URI, a creating/loading mechanism may be called using substantially similar calling code to that which is used to call the mechanism for loading another type of resource, thereby providing a consistent programming model. In one example, the URI includes a packaging scheme and authority, or a relative path which may be converted to an absolute URI. The mechanism creates an object corresponding to the application-related resource, and loads the resource or a stream of a compound resource.

Loading application resources

Navigating through pages of content. In aspects, a state machine is provided that simplifies navigating. The state machine allows multiple navigation services to work together in a hierarchical manner to obtain content. The state machine also provides a mechanism for stopping navigation and responding to errors.

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

David P Relyea