Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Rhae-Christie Shaw

Jonathan Paul Rosenberg

Eric J Horvitz

Charles Cummins

Paul Alexander Gusmorino, Iii

David George De Vorchik

Mark H Lucovsky

Judson Craig Hally

Shaun Douglas Pierce

George M Moore

Tyler Kien Beam

Brandon V Taylor

Hani Saliba

Lyon K F Wong

Lijiang Fang

David Michael Sauntry

Scott S Hysom

Paul Andrew Steckler

Winnie C Wu

Aidan N Low

John M Gehlsen

A method and apparatus are provided for generating a document preview. According to the method, a preview handler provides an interface to one or more previewers. The previewers are software components capable of generating a visual preview for one or more document types. In response to a request from a host application to generate a preview for a document, the preview handler is operative to identify the appropriate previewer for generating a preview for the document. The preview handler may then call the previewer and instruct the previewer to load the document and to show the preview in a sub-window of a window provided by the calling host application.

Method, system, and apparatus for providing a document preview

A previewing system that permits selection from a plurality of interactive previewers for use in a system shell browser is disclosed. The previews may be extensible, such that different application developers may write custom previews for different file types, and the shell browser may follow established criteria to select an appropriate preview. The user may enter criteria to control which previewers are used for different situations, such as when certain file types are selected for previewing. Size of an available display area for the preview may be a criterion, such that resizing the preview area may cause a different preview to be displayed. The preview may be executed as a separate process from the browser so that crashes and hangs in the previewer process do not fatally affect the browser process. Previews may be incorporated within common file dialogs offered by an underlying operating system, such that different applications may share the common previewer.

System and method for shell browser

Methods, systems, and computer program products provide intelligent user interfaces based on a context or mode of a document. A method involves opening the document in a context that only facilitates reading, disabling editing commands associated with the document and/or disabling typing functionality for editing the document, and displaying a transition button via the intelligent user interface. The transition button is operative, when selected, to initiate transition of the document between the context that only facilitates reading and a context that facilitates editing. The method also involves receiving a selection of the transition button, in response to receiving the selection and transitioning from the context that only facilitates reading to the context that facilitates editing. Transitioning to the editing context includes enabling the editing commands and typing functionality. The method may also involve transitioning from the context that facilitates editing back to the context that only facilitates reading.

Providing smart user interfaces based on document open and/or edit context

A schema-based device service that provides centralized access to per-user device data, wherein access to the device data is based on each user's identity. The device service includes a schema that defines rules and a structure for each user's data, and also includes methods that provide access to the data in a defined way. The device schema thus corresponds to a logical document containing the data for each user. A service such as a notification/alerts service accesses data in the logical document by data access requests through defined methods, such as in order to customize or modify a notification for a device based on the device characteristics. In one implementation, the device schemas are arranged as XML documents, and the services provide methods that control access to the data based on the requesting user's identification, defined role and scope for that role.

Schema-based services for identity-based access to device data

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Rhae-Christie Shaw