The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 13, 2011
Filed:
May. 15, 2006
Nagalinga Durga Prasad Sripathi Panditharadhya, Redmond, WA (US);
John Edward Churchill, Monroe, WA (US);
Udaya Kumar Bhaskara, Redmond, WA (US);
Nagalinga Durga Prasad Sripathi Panditharadhya, Redmond, WA (US);
John Edward Churchill, Monroe, WA (US);
Udaya Kumar Bhaskara, Redmond, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Various technologies and techniques are disclosed that merge components on a design surface. The system receives input from a user to add components or clauses to a design surface and analyzes the components to determine if some of the components can be merged. If the system identifies components that can be merged, then the system merges the identified components to reduce the number of components present on the design surface. The system determines that some components can be merged if the components meet the same criteria, such as having components that are equivalent and that have the same number of incoming paths or the same number of outgoing paths. The system provides a visual indicator on the design surface to indicate that components are being merged. The system provides an undo feature to allow the user to undo the component merging when desired.