Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Microsoft Corporation

Laurent Mollicone

Stephen Michael Danton

Scott M Roberts

Jean Paoli

James Randall Flynn

Alessandro Catorcini

Andrew Paul Begun

Yuri Rychikhin

Jordan Sehn

Ned Bearer Friend

Siddharth Jayadevan

Florian Voss

William A Manis

Matthew Jay Kotler

Christian Fortini

Michael C Murray

Bulusu Krishna Mohan

David K Peck

Joshua S Bell

Thomas R Lawrence

Jun Jin

Shuk-Yan Lai

Sharma K Hendel

Tad D Price

Jason Whitmarsh

Kean E E Lim

Antony S Williams

Donald F Box

Michael Brian Palmer

Haroon Ahmed

Stephen John Mooney

Brian Teutsch

Charles Strempler

Florian W H Voss

Willson Kulandai Raj

Arwen E Pond

Anthony Scott Williams

Nima Mirzad

James R Flynn

Brian C Teutsch

Scott Roberts

Visual landmarks are used to organize diagrams. Elements of a diagram can be arranged in accordance with configurable defined properties of visual landmarks to provide some degree of layout structure within the diagram. Users can customize visual landmarks to cause the visual landmarks to exhibit desired behavior.

Using visual landmarks to organize diagrams

A system and method enabling a designer to build electronic forms from hierarchical data is described. Displays of hierarchical data, facilitation of selection of a portion of the hierarchical data, and displays of one or more transformation-language components associated with a selected portion of hierarchical data are described. From the transformation-language components selected by a designer, generation of an electronic form is also described.

Designing electronic forms

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for using visual landmarks to organize diagrams. Embodiments of the invention facilitate using visual landmarks to organize elements within a diagram. Elements of a diagram can be arranged in accordance with configurable defined properties of visual landmarks to provide some degree of layout structure within the diagram. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide a user experience that provides some structure but retains the flexibility of free form editing. Users can customize visual landmarks to cause the visual landmarks to exhibit desired behavior.

A database integration viewer that allows additional properties to be associated with a record as viewed in a single record or table, even though those additional properties are not owned by the record in the underlying source record or table in the database. Using this integration view, a viewed version of record or table may be different than the actual structure of the source record or table. In the viewed version of the record or table, the viewed record or table or may include some or all of the properties for the records of the subject record or table, while incorporating one or more additional properties for the record into the viewed table. The properties may be scalars, or may be computed to populate the viewed version of the record or table.

Database integrated viewer

Performing incremental runtime composition. A method includes a computing system receiving a user input gesture modifying a diagram displayed on a diagram surface. The diagram includes a first element, a second element, and a plurality of elements connected to the second element laid out in a particular layout pattern with respect to the second element. The method further includes interpreting the user input gesture to be a gesture creating a graph by connecting the first element to the second element of the diagram. The method further includes performing an auto layout of the diagram by automatically, and without user intervention, repositioning the second element with respect to the first element but without substantially repositioning the plurality of elements with respect to the second element by moving the second element and the plurality of elements as an atomic unit.

Incremental run-time layout composition

Mechanisms for allowing a user to scroll through a displayed viewer. Upon detected using input while the viewer is being displayed, the user input is identified is being a scrolling gesture. In response, a scrolling control is activated at an interior portion of the displayed viewer. In addition, when the user navigates the cursor to within a scrollable display, the cursor is adorned with a scrolling context emblem that represents scrolling options available for that viewer.

Internal scroll activation and cursor adornment

Data-driven configuration of various views on data models. A framework may be provided that offers one or more parameterized view generation components, each aimed at generating a particular view type in response to configuration data that populates the parameters of the associated component. A user or other computing entity merely provides configuration data to an appropriate view generation component to generate a custom view. That custom view may then optionally perhaps be applied to any number of data models, or perhaps not applied to any data model at all and just saved for perhaps some future use. This view generation may generate composite views on a data model, or even hierarchical views on a data model.

Configurable view on data models

Embodiments described herein are directed to generating a customized data viewer, where the viewer is configured to display data at any level in a data model. In one embodiment, a computer system receives a user request indicating that portions of data are to be displayed in a user-customized manner using a data viewer. The computer system accesses the requested data portions that are to be displayed with the data viewer. The computer system generates a dynamic data viewer configured to display the accessed data portions in the user-customized manner indicated in the received user request. The computer system also applies the generated dynamic data viewer to the accessed data portions, such that the generated viewer displays the requested data portions in the user-customized manner.

Data viewer management

A system and method that enables a designer to build electronic forms and corresponding hierarchical schemas are described. Displays of hierarchical schemas, electronic forms, and components used to build the hierarchical schemas and electronic forms are provided to the designer. The designer selects components and arranges them on a display to visually build an electronic form. As the form is built, the corresponding hierarchical schema is incrementally updated to reflect changes made to the electronic form.

Incrementally designing electronic forms and hierarchical schemas

Systems and/or methods that enable an electronic form to provide data external to the electronic form in response to a query while offline with respect to a data source from which the data originated are described. These systems and methods may also, in one embodiment, receive data from a data source that is capable of being inaccessible and associate that data with an electronic form, a user, and a query. These systems and methods may, in another embodiment, provide data in response to a query made by a user to an electronic form that was previously associated with the electronic form, the user, and the query.

Query to an electronic form

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for the facilitating the layout and composition of graphics. Embodiments of the present invention allow declarative input for creation and modification of layout compositions and also allows adjustments or modifications made to layout compositions. Layout compositions may be created, adjusted, and modified by input through a markup language or by user-commands and gestures. Relationships and associations among nodes and among line segments and connections between nodes which are embodied within a composition or created by an auto layout are preserved both during and after adjustments and modifications.

Layout and line routing composition

Embodiments are directed to generating declarative model editors. A computer system receives a first user input indicating a selection of a native underlying schema that includes constraints that are to be followed by models based on the native schema. The computer system receives a second user input indicating a declarative entry that includes user-configurable model editor characteristics. The computer system automatically generates a declarative model editor based on the selected native schema and user-configurable model editor characteristics. Other embodiments are directed to editing models using declarative model editors. A computer system receives user input indicating a declarative entry to be applied to a model, generates a declarative model editor based on the declarative entry, receives a model that is editable by the generated declarative model editor, and edits user-configurable characteristics of the model. The model characteristics conform to the constraints in the native underlying schema.

Declarative model editor generation

Systems and/or methods that enable addition of a designer-created aspect originating from one electronic form template into another electronic form template are described. The systems and/or methods may also, in one embodiment, enable a user to graphically package designer-created aspects of an existing electronic form template into a component capable of being added to another electronic form template. In another embodiment, these systems and/or methods may enable mapping of an existing non-structural designer-created aspect originating from one electronic form template onto a data structure of another electronic form template.

Designer-created aspect for an electronic form template

An upgrade module is used to convert arbitrary XML documents into a form compatible with the processing expectations of a particular processing mechanism. In one implementation, the upgrade module can be used to convert XML documents pertaining to an earlier version of the processing mechanism to a form compatible with a later version of the processing mechanism. The processing mechanism can pertain to a solution module that transforms an input XML document into an electronic form. The upgrade module can be automatically generated when a user makes changes to the electronic form in a manner that affects the schema of the electronic form, or which affects other aspects of the electronic form. The upgrade module can be implemented as an Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) file.

Conversion of structured documents

Various embodiments are disclosed relating to binding an application to one or more nodes of a tree (e.g., XML tree or XML document). According to an example embodiment, a tree path navigator (e.g., XPath navigator) may be invoked or called to dynamically evaluate a tree path expression to track one or more nodes identified by the expression. In another example embodiment, a notification interface may be provided for one or more nodes in the tree to provide a change notification when one of the nodes is modified. The application may be notified of a change to any node identified by the tree path expression.

Growing community of inventors

Kirkland, WA, United States of America

Laurent Mollicone