Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Cozi Group Inc.

Jan Thomas Miksovsky

Charles Cummins

Randall Knight Winjum

David Joel Sheldon

Charles W Stabb

Darren B Remington

Robert F Day

John M Tippett

David E McCauley, Iii

Christopher Kevin Brownell

Scott R Ludwig

Brian T Fleming

Mark R Ligameri

Jenny T Lam

Paul Alexander Gusmorino, Iii

Cornelis K Van Dok

Judson Craig Hally

Tjeerd Hoek

Mark A Alcazar

Richard M Banks

Vincent J Pasceri

Warren G Stevens

Sundaram Ramani

Kanwal Vedbrat

Joseph J Brychell

Eric Wayne Doerr

Stephen Cole

Henry David Hahn

Atanas Georgiev Koralski

Jeffrey S Miller

Mark Douglas Bramley

Sigmund Mandel

Justin B Magaram

Mark D Coburn

Manny S Weiser

Vincent L Paceri

Todd M Colby

Robert A Cape

A task dialog having a main instruction and a command region, and optionally a content and/or footer region, is automatically generated in response to a request from an application program. The task dialog main instruction is automatically sized and located so as to form a concise instruction or question located prominently in the dialog. A command region is below the instruction and includes UI controls for responding to the dialog. Optional content and footer regions can be used by a developer for inclusion of text that provides guidance to the user regarding the main instruction. If included, however, the content and/or footer regions are automatically sized and placed so that they do not obscure the main instruction or the command region controls.

Task dialog and programming interface for same

A system and method for generating collections of media are provided. A media collage is constructed such that all its contained media, such as digital images, are selected and organized according to an associated characteristic. Sequential media collages can be generated by the same selection and organization approach.

Media display collages

A system and method for improved directional focus navigation in a user interface is provided. The directional focus navigation engine may receive directional input for changing the input focus of a user interface object in the user interface. A target candidate selector may select target candidates in a direction of travel among one or more user interface objects for receiving the input focus. A target candidate scorer may score the target candidates selected and the directional focus navigation engine may change the input focus to user interface object based upon the scoring. Scoring the target candidates may be biased when navigation continues in the same traversal direction for changing input focus.

System and method for directional focus navigation

An architectural software framework is provided for creating Web-style application software incorporating protocols and means for expansion and interfacing with other Web-style programs, as well as a reusable basic programming structure, including abstract and concrete data types, that assist in building Web-style applications. The architectural software framework includes a page function and frame. Each Web-style application includes one or more page functions which communicate via the frame.

Page function architectural framework

Payee names in received financial statements can be substituted for the benefit of users. The financial statements can be electronically received from a financial services provider. The financial statements typically comprise transaction entries that comprise an original payee name. A user can indicate a preferred name for the original payee name. If a match exists between an original name and a preferred name, the preferred name can be substituted for the original payee name. If a match does not exist, an active payee table can be used to display an original payee name.

Method and system for correcting payee names and adjusting an account balance for a financial statement

An architectural software framework is provided for creating Web-style application software incorporating protocols and means for expansion and interfacing with other Web-style programs, as well as a reusable basic programming structure, consisting of abstract and concrete data types, that assist in building Web-style applications. The architectural software framework includes a page function and frame. Each Web-style application includes one or more page functions which communicate via the frame.

Image for a display screen

Image for a portion of a display screen

An expert system for generating user interfaces is provided. The expert system includes one or more components for realizing one or more intentions of a user interface designer. Each intention, when received by the expert system, identifies and activates a corresponding component for realizing the received intention. Each component programmatically contains a set of rules extracted from guidelines, conventions, and principles of user interface design. A set of parameters is also supplied with each received intention to aid the corresponding component to choose and execute a rule from the set of rules. Each rule produces a user interface from a template different from other templates used by other rules.

Expert system for generating user interfaces

Portion of a display screen

A method and system for dynamically updating the error messages corresponding to a shipped software product. The exiting generic error messages shipped with a software product are replaced or appended as errors are resolved or better understood, whereby a user who receives an error message will see the latest known information for that error message. A file of updated error messages is automatically downloaded when the user is connected to the Internet. Any time an error message is to be displayed, an error handling mechanism compares identifier information of the error message to the file of updated error messages, and if a match is found, overwrites or extends the existing error message that was shipped with the code for display to the user. If no match is found, the existing message is displayed. An updated error message can be changed or reset to the original message if a problem changes or goes away, and updated messages may include certain identifying information for the purpose of assisting product support personnel in resolving user problems.

Dynamic error messaging

A method and system for providing intelligent advice to a user. An architecture is described wherein trigger points are placed in an application program, and an advice engine invoked by the application when a trigger point is reached. The advice engine obtains information such as a user's application data, and uses the data to test it against a number of conditions for that trigger point. For each condition met, the advice engine retrieves an advice template for providing advice corresponding to the condition, and based on information in the template versus display state information, decides whether to queue the advice for subsequent display to the user. A display process displays the queued advice according to a priority setting maintained in the template.

Intelligent advisor system and method

A new financial transaction is compared to prior entries in a database of prior financial transactions to identify a recurring transaction. Certain parameters of a new entry, entered either manually or by transfer of electronic data, are compared to corresponding entries in the database of financial transactions to determine if at least two similar prior entries can be found. A set of predefined rules is applied to determine whether two prior transactions are substantially similar to the new transaction. If two prior transactions are found that are substantially similar to the new transaction, a first and a second gap are determined. The first gap corresponds to the time interval between the new and the most recent of the two prior similar transactions, and the second gap corresponds to the time interval between the two prior similar transactions. If the first and second gaps match one of a plurality of predetermined time periods within a preset tolerance value, a recurring transaction for that time period is identified. The user is prompted to enter the recurring transaction into a payment calendar. The payment calendar is then used for selectively entering new transactions and for financial planning over a selected future time frame.

Automatic recognition of periods for financial transactions

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Jan Thomas Miksovsky