Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Ted Andrew Peters

Kenneth Bruce Cooper

Scott David Guthrie

David S Ebbo

Gary Steven Burd

Mark T Anders

Stephen James Millet

Namita Gupta

Samuel Watkins Bent

David Jakob Jenni

Lutz Röder

A data-binding engine is used to perform command binding. A data binding engine binds user interface controls such as buttons, menus, list boxes, etc. to commands exposed on an application model. A data source and data binding path may be specified in a markup language that defines how the commands are bound to UI elements.

Application of data-binding mechanism to perform command binding

Priority binding enables a one-to-many mapping of a target to a source without requiring complex code development by the specification of one or more binding statements. During runtime, these bindings are evaluated. The highest priority binding that evaluates successfully is executed, controlling the two-way transfer of information between source and target. During execution, all possible data binding pathways are monitored. If a binding that has a higher priority than the existing binding evaluates successfully, the existing binding is terminated and the new binding is executed.

Priority binding

A list control allows for a harmonized display of heterogeneous list element data by using at least two templates. The templates define the layout for the list element data. The templates consult an interface while calculating the layout. The interface provides information regarding the location of at least one gridline; the layout for the list element data is based on that location. The list control implements the interface, thus allowing heterogeneous templates to rely one interface providing on one gridline location. In order to take into account the requirements of each list element for gridline location, the interface requests information regarding a preliminary gridline location for each list element and bases the final gridline location on this information.

Aligned behavior in templated lists

A framework for individually controlling the layout of display elements provides management of the layout automatically via pluggable policies. Control modules are dedicated to controlling the format of respective display elements. The control modules are organized into an ancestral hierarchy tree structure. Each parent control module specifies a policy object that manages the layout of its children, and provides measurement information to ancestor control modules. When an aspect of a control module changes that will affect its layout, it makes a single call which causes the framework to utilize the relevant layout managers to layout any affected control modules.

Dynamic pluggable user interface layout

One or more server-side control objects provide server-side processing of postback input received from client-side user interface elements in a request from a client. Such input may include without limitation postback data and postback events generated from a web page on a client and received by a server in an HTTP request. A hierarchy of server-side control objects can cooperate to process the postback input and to generate the resulting authoring language code, such as HTML. Server-side events can also result from the server-side processing of postback input. In addition to processing postback input, server-side processing may include, without limitation, state management of server-side control objects and binding data to and from server-side database. After the processing and generating operations, the server-side control object hierarchy is terminated until a subsequent request is received from the client.

Postback input handling by server-side control objects

A server-side control object processes and generates a client-side user interface element for display on a web page. Multiple server-side control objects may be combined into a hierarchy of server-side control objects that cooperate to generate the resulting authoring language code, such as HTML, for display of a web page on a client. The operation of processing the client-side user interface element may include at least one of an event handling operation, a postback data handling operation, a data binding operation, and a state management operation. The state management operation relates to the state of a server-side control object.

Server-side control objects for processing client-side user interface elements

The state of one or more server-side control objects is managed using a transportable state structure that is communicated between a web server and a client. The transportable state structure may include state information, hierarchical information, and an integrity code. Prior to a response to the client, the state information of one or more server-side control objects is recorded into the transportable state structure for transmission to the client in the response. The transportable state structure is then returned to the server and loaded into the server-side control objects to restore the hierarchy to its previous state.

State management of server-side control objects

A method and apparatus to create an intermediate language or source code file from a server-side resource or dynamic web page file. The source code can then be compiled into an executable class allowing for rapid generation of web page control objects that perform server-side functions, including the rendering of client responses. The code generation scheme of the present invention is capable of creating control objects connected in a hierarchy to handle event processing and the setting of attributes to the specific objects.

Server-side code generation from a dynamic web page content file

Server-side control objects corresponding to client-side user interface elements are created in a control object hierarchy. Properties of the control objects may be data bound to properties of a server-side data source (e.g., a server-side database). Hierarchical data binding relationships are established between properties of control objects and properties of a data source. Template declarations are used to define the configuration of binding container objects that correspond to data objects in the data source. An iterating control object determines the number of data objects in the data source increase according number of binding container objects. A simple data binding types include without limitation: (1) unidirectional data binding from the data source to a control object; (2) unidirectional data binding from a control object to the data source; and (3) bidirectional data binding between a control object and the data source.

Databinding using server-side control objects

The state of one or more server-side control objects is managed using a transportable state structure that is communicated between a web server and a client. The transportable state structure may include state information, hierarchical information, and an integrity code. The state information is related to properties of the server-side control objects. The hierarchical information is used by the server to locate an appropriate server-side control object in the hierarchy into which associated state information is to be loaded. The integrity code allows the server to determine whether the transportable state structure was corrupted during the round-trip between the server and the client. Prior to a response to the client, the state information of one or more server-side control objects is recorded into the transportable state structure for transmission to the client in the response. The transportable state structure is then returned to the server and loaded into the server-side control objects to restore the hierarchy to its previous state.

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Ted Andrew Peters