Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Markus W Mielke

Justin Rogers

Alex Mogilevsky

Joseph S Beda, Iii

Alexander J Zotov

Robert A Relyea

Vladimir A Levin

Bulusu Krishna Mohan

Juncao Li

Jakob Frederik Lichtenberg

Ronald R Martinsen

Hyuk Joon Kwon

David H Massy

Richard John Gardner

John M Harding

Vikas Pabreja

Eugene Veselov

Remy L De Weduwe

Dave Cox

Kris Markel

Nathan L Deisinger

Adrian Bateman

Evgeny Veselov

Nicholas Randall Waggoner

Rossen Atanassov

Zhenbin Xu

Sebastian Poulose

Veljko Miljanic

Michael Jacob Jolson

Phil Cupp

Paul Stephen Gildea

Erik Daniel Anderson

Christopher Lyman Jones

Koti Kiran Chegondi

Peter G Salas

Phillip F Cupp

Kathy Carper

Systems and methods are described for verifying functionality of a computing device. A set of rules are sent to a computing device identifying a device driver. Data is received from the one device that is indicative of collected driver data of the computing device. The data is collected by a driver verifier function executing on the computing device. The driver verifier function is configured to capture information associated with the identified device driver identified by the set of rules. The received data is parsed to categorize the data with previously collected driver data of other computing devices. The data is categorized based on attributes of the collected driver data. The categorized data is provided for analysis of the driver health on the computing device.

Device driver verification

Systems and methods are described for verifying functionality of a computing device. Rules are received that are usable to configure a driver verifier function to capture information associated with a device driver identified by the rules. The configured driver verifier function is run on a computing device. The information is captured in response to driver conditions identified by the rules. The computing device is allowed to continue operation when the driver condition includes an error condition of the identified device driver. A communication is initiated to transmit the captured information to a driver verification analysis service.

Device driver telemetry

An illustrative implementation is described for copying an identified portion of source content along with style information associated with the portion. The implementation allows the identified portion to be pasted into target content. By virtue of the extraction and retention of style information, the identified portion that is pasted into the target content visually resembles the identified portion as it appears in the source content. The implementation can identify relevant style information to be preserved based on a contextual analysis of style information applied to the source content. In one illustrative case, some of the style information may be revealed by parts of the content that are not directly demarcated by the identified portion.

Retaining style information when copying content

Various embodiments evaluate content that is to be printed and ascertain whether the content is going to overflow or be 'orphaned' onto a second page when printed. If some content will create an orphan when printed, then the content is scaled to fit onto a single page when printed. In some embodiments, the content is simply proportionally scaled to fit onto a single page. In other embodiments, the content is further processed to scale it in a manner that makes intelligent use of the white space on the printed page.

Methods and systems for treating overflow conditions and for re-sizing printable content

Various embodiments enable particular CSS pseudo-classes to be employed, but limit particular functionality aspects of those pseudo-classes that can lead to divulging personally identifiable information. Thus, various embodiments can change how a CSS pseudo-class is allowed to function. For example, in at least some embodiments, CSS pseudo-classes are permitted to be used to make the visual formatting changes to a web page, but not structural formatting changes. That is, changes that do not affect the structure of content within a web document are allowed, while changes that affect the structure of the content are not allowed.

Enabling pseudo-class styles without revealing personal information

Content can be flowed through one or more containers that can be laid out analogously to printed material. Content is flowed into the first specified container until that container is 'full' of content. Subsequent content is then flowed through subsequent containers, each of which is individually identified, and whose ordering is specified independently of their position and visual presentation. Multiple independent sources of content can be flowed through multiple independent collections of containers. Each container can format the content presented within it independently from other containers, and each container can comprise script, or other programmatic constructs, which can operate on, and modify, the content flowed into such a container. To provide for the rich layouts, content containers can be nested inside one another such that multiple layers, or levels, of the layout can be edited independently of one another.

Content flow through containers

An identification of one of multiple types of Web browsers that a Web page supports, as well as an identification of one of multiple versions of that one type of Web browser that the Web page supports, is obtained. The Web page is displayed using the identified version of the identified Web browser type. A request for an identification of the identified version of the identified Web browser type can also be received from a program, such as a Web page script. In response to the request, an identification of the identified version of the identified Web browser type is being used to display the Web page is returned, and instructions of the program are executed based at least in part on the identified version of the identified Web browser type.

Web page based program versioning

A trial based layout builder generates multiple trial multi-column layouts for content until a multi-column layout that satisfies particular criteria for multi-column balancing is generated. Multiple trial multi-column layouts can be generated in parallel based on different boundaries until a layout that does satisfy the criteria is identified. Different elements of the content laid out in different trial multi-column layouts can be reused in subsequently generated trial multi-column layouts. The content can also optionally be separated into multiple different portions at various break points, and trial multi-column layouts for the different portions can be generated in parallel. Additionally, if a trial multi-column layout for one of the portions that satisfies the particular criteria is identified, the content in that portion can be displayed while continuing to attempt to identify a layout for the content of the other portion that satisfies the one or more criteria.

Trial based multi-column balancing

Presentation of accessible content is in accordance with a grid established by rules independent of the content. Different rules establish different grids utilizable with the same content, thereby enabling proper formatting across a wide range of devices and displays. The rules provide for fixed size and auto sized column widths and row heights. Additionally, the rules provide for column widths and row heights size based on fractional weighting of the remaining space after the fixed size and auto sized grid members are accounted for. The grid establishes a coordinate system onto which content is 'hung' by aligning an aspect of the content with a coordinate point. Content is hung by reference to its beginning, its end, its center point, or, alternatively, content can be specified to be stretched to fit the width of the column and the height of the row with which it is associated.

Rule-based grid independent of content

A new form of DHTML behaviors, called &#x2dc;Element Behaviors,' wherein a behavior component is bound to an HTML element, and not just attached to the element as with attached behaviors. A special processing instruction is used to import the Element Behavior into a Web page. Upon parsing the Web page, the Element Behavior is initialized as soon as it has been downloaded and parsed. This immediate initialization makes the Element Behavior declaratively available to bind synchronously to the element(s) it is modifying. A viewLink is a feature of Element Behaviors that permits encapsulation of a behavior component file (e.g., an HTC file) so that the structure of the HTC file is transparent to a Web page (&#x2dc;primary document') to which the HTC file is linked, but the content of the HTC file may be displayed in the primary document. The viewLink provides a pointer to the content in the encapsulated HTC file, and renders that content in the primary document, without incorporating the elements of the encapsulated HTC file into the primary document structure.

Method for synchronously binding an external behavior to a web page element

An analytical tool for measuring spacing between elements in a web page is provided. In one implementation, the analytical tool identifies locations indicated on a web page and automatically determines one or more elements in proximity to those indicated locations. The analytical tool automatically identifies points on the determined elements associated with the indicated locations and calculates the distance between those points. The calculated distance is displayed on the web page. The automatically identified points and a graphical representation of a measuring ruler between the points may also be displayed to enhance usability.

Snap to element analytical tool

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Markus W Mielke