Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

John David Colleran

Corneliu I Lupu

Gerardo Bermudez

Felix G T I Andrew

Ian Michael Ellison-Taylor

Mark S Carroll

Vadim Gorokhovsky

Vadim Gorokhovky

J Andrew Goossen

Ori Gershony

Michael A Schmidt

Kinshuman Kinshumann

A method and system are provided for managing application programs with non-responsive user interfaces, possibly due to a bottleneck in handling events/messages. The method and system make an apparently frozen application user interface responsive so as to permit alternative tasks be executed or close the hung application. This is enabled by implementing routines to (a) detect if an application is hung, (b) replace the user interface for the hung application with a ghost interface, implemented by a separate thread, that permits system functionality such as sizing, minimization and closing of the application, and (c) destroying the ghost interface if the hung application becomes responsive again along with restoring the application's user interface along with updated event queues. Furthermore, creation of the ghost user interface is accompanied by placing a high priority special event in the hung application's queue to detect renewed responsiveness without requiring explicit monitoring.

Responsive user interface to manage a non-responsive application

A system and method for delivering support tools to a computer user's machine, without requiring the user to directly download, install and/or execute the tools. A user in need of support contacts support and in response receives a URL corresponding to a manifest, which is a data file identifying support tools that a user's machine is to run to collect data for analysis. Via HTTP, a control mechanism on the user's machine interprets the manifest, automatically handling downloading and installation of any needed tool, and executes the tools on the machine with appropriate parameters that are present in the manifest. Data is collected, packaged and returned to a support entity, where it is analyzed such that a support solution may be returned to the user. The system and method provide efficient and consistent support to computer users, helping both support personnel while giving computer users a very straightforward support experience.

System and method for providing computer support tools

A method and system are provided for efficient development of software application programs with user interfaces. Customarily, several specialists, including designers and developers, cooperate during the development stage of an application program. The invention teaches a strategy for making resource files external to the other compiled executable files in an application such that the information from the resource file may be obtained at runtime as needed without the need for compilation. Furthermore, the external resource file may be edited at runtime to allow designers to modify the look and feel for an application's interface without having to depend on developers to implement changes in the interface.

External resource files for application development and management

A computer method for patching applications that are incompatible with an operating system is provided. The method determines if an application is compatible with an operating system, and if the application is determined to be incompatible, a debugger is loaded that runs the incompatible application. The debugger calls a handler to patch the incompatibilities of the application when a breakpoint has been reached in the incompatible application during the running of the incompatible application.

Fixing incompatible applications using a light debugger

This invention provides a method and system for developing a software application program with user interfaces that make resource files external to the other compiled executable files such that the information from the resource file may be obtained at runtime as needed without the need for compilation. The external resource file may be edited at runtime to allow designers to modify the application's interface without having to depend on developers implement changes in the interface. This is achieved by providing resources in a markup language and routines that locate and parse the markup language text on the fly as an application executes. Compartmentalization of the effort in developing and porting an application is facilitated for protection of source code and better management of designers and developers working on different aspects of a software application due to the externalization of the resource files needed primarily by the designers.

A computer method for patching applications that are incompatible with an operating system is provided. The method determines if an application is compatible with an operating system, and if the application is determined to be incompatible, a shim dynamic link library is loaded that replaces all of the incompatible functions contained within the application's dynamic link libraries.

Fixing incompatible applications by providing stubs for APIs

Output from an application or other program running in a windowing environment is redirected from the application to a bit map where it can be further manipulated prior to being displayed on the screen. A style bit is associated with each window from applications which are to be so redirected. Further parameters are associated with display of the window to provide position and size information and to provide special effects. Some special effects, such as transparency are identified by an alpha value, which enables further programs to manipulate the window in its associated bit map to make it appear transparent. One or more application program interfaces (APIs) provide the ability to specify the transparency, positioning, color key, size and other attributes as well as whether or not the window is redirected. This API may be utilized by the application to apply special effects to its windows., It may be used via a user interface to allow the user to select a desired window to redirect. It may be used by another application to create new UI by applying geometrical transforms to the visual bits in the redirection bitmap provided by the system.

Dynamic effects for computer display windows

A method, system and computer program product for repainting the image uncovered by a character of an animated sequence on a desktop in a windows-based operating system. Before a character in a frame of an animated sequence is displayed, a boundary box is specified. Then, a bitmap of the image within the area enclosed by the boundary box is stored and the character in the frame of the animated character is displayed. Next, the area within the boundary box that is exposed by the next frame of the character's animated sequence is determined, the image area from the stored bitmap that corresponds to the area exposed within the boundary box is copied, the display is painted with the copied image area, and character in the next frame of the animated sequence is displayed. If the character in the next frame of the animated sequence is outside the current boundary box, a new boundary box is specified by maintaining the bitmap image common to the current and the next frame's boundary box and adding the image of the new boundary box not included in the current boundary box to the stored bitmap image.

Efficient redrawing of animated windows

A method, system and computer program product for foreground window determination of windows displaying applications in a displayed desktop. The present invention continuously resolves the issue of what program or process running or to be run in a window on the desktop is displayed in the foreground or focus window, thereby avoiding unintentional inputs to an application in a background window and unintentional switching of the application program presented in the foreground window of a windows-based operating system. The continuous resolution is made by determining if an initiated process has the special right for its window to become the foreground window; determining if the window associated with a process can take the foreground based on a set of predetermined process foreground rules and if the right was given with respect to the initiated process; determining if an initiated thread has the special right for its window to become the foreground window; and determining what window displayed or to be displayed is in the foreground when a thread requests for its associated window to take the foreground based on a set of predetermined thread foreground rules and if the right was given with respect to the initiated thread.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

John David Colleran