Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Dmitry Goncharenko

Michael E Pietraszak

Allen Wirfs-Brock

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for creating and executing extensible processes across multiple application components. A declarative feature is provided to allow partially ordered steps in an extensible process spanning multiple application components to be defined in a declarative format. A developer can define the minimum base steps in a first application component. Other application components can then provide additional partially ordered steps and/or actions to the extensible process. The declarative feature allows the partially ordered steps to have an associated step action. A sequencer is provided that assembles the partially ordered steps together from the multiple application components into a computational sequence having a total ordering. The sequencer executes the computational sequence in that total ordering upon receiving an execution request.

Extensible action sequences coordinating independently created components

Enabling developers to access software components of a software development set while the set is loading on to the computer. A user interface may provide a visual representation of the software set being loaded on to a computer, including displaying the contents of the software set. Contents of the software set may be displayed before the contents have been loaded on to the computer. A user may be enabled to select, from the visual representation, a software component of the loading set that has not yet been loaded on to the computer. In response, the selected component may be loaded on to the computer, for example, using a separate, higher-priority process or thread from the one loading the software set. The selected component may be loaded asynchronously, irrespective of the particular synchronous order in which the software components of the software set are being loaded.

Accessing and loading software components of a development package on a computer while other software components of the package are loading

A user interface provides a visual representation of a software development set being loaded on to a computer, including displaying the contents (e.g., constituent software components) of the development set. Contents of the development set may be displayed before the contents have even been loaded on to the computer. The user interface may enable the user to select one or more of the software components of the development set (or the development set itself). In response to the user selection, the user may be enabled to perform limited operations on the software components. A user may be enabled to select, from the visual representation, a software component of the loading set that has not yet been loaded on to the computer.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Dmitry Goncharenko