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Dynamic user interfaceRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Presentation Processing Of Document, Operator Interface Processing, And Screen Saver Display Processing, Operator Interface (e.g., Graphical User Interface), User Interface Development (e.g., Gui Builder)Dynamic user interface description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080077872, Dynamic user interface. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to computer software, and specifically to tools for generating graphic user interfaces. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Graphic user interfaces (GUIs) have become the accepted means for interaction between computer programs and their users. A variety of tools are known in the art, such as Visual Basic and Visual C++, for use by computer application developers in designing a GUI. These tools provide standard building blocks, including controls, such as menu bars, push buttons, sliders, check boxes and knobs, as well as areas for text input. To create a GUI, the application developer selects the appropriate building blocks and arranges them on the screen. Each of the building blocks is used to invoke an appropriate function in the application program. [0003] A "skin" can be used to change the visual appearance of the GUI, without changing the underlying functionality. The skin is a graphic file that provides a visual cover for the elements of the GUI. For example, Stardock (www.stardock.com) offers a skin utility known as "WindowBlinds," which allows the user to change the style of title bars, buttons, toolbars and other elements of the Microsoft Windows GUI. Winamp (www.winamp.com) offers a computer media player with many different, interchangeable skins. Users can also create their own skins using a suitable graphics editor. Soft Shape (www.softshape.com) offer ActiveSkin, an ActiveX control that changes the visual appearance of forms and dialogs. In all cases, however, the skin is tied to a template and must line up geometrically with the underlying functional user interface elements. Consequently, the GUI designer has only limited flexibility in choosing the shapes, sizes and relative positions of the elements of the interface. [0004] After the priority date of the present invention, the Quintessential CD "QCD 2.0 Player" was released. This player has a GUI that allows users to replace its entire skin without regard to shape, size or position of the original user interface supplied with the player. Features of QCD 2.0 skins are described in a document entitled "Designing User Interfaces (`Skins`) for the QCD 2.0 Player," available at www.quinnware.com, which is incorporated herein by reference. Among the features of the skin implementations described in this document is the use of color coding to define "maps" that describe the location and shape of smaller controls that are overlaid on top of larger controls. Predefined colors tell QCD 2.0 what the associated pixels are supposed to mean in terms of user interface functions. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] It is an object of some aspects of the present invention to provide improved tools and methods for use in creating a GUI. [0006] It is a further object of some aspects of the present invention to provide tools that allow a user with only minimal programming know-how to build a GUT. [0007] It is yet a further object of some aspects of the present invention to provide tools that afford enhanced flexibility in creating a GUI. [0008] It is still a further object of some aspects of the present invention to separate the GUI from underlying application programs using object-oriented methods. [0009] It is another object of some aspects of the present invention to enable the creation of GUIs that can be used in multiple, different applications. [0010] It is yet another object of some aspects of the present invention to enable the creation of GUIs that can be used in different operating systems, as well as over networks, such as the Internet. [0011] Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a dynamic skin, which can be used by a designer of a GUI to lay out user interface elements on a computer screen freely, substantially without constraint as to their positions, shapes or sizes. The dynamic skin is based on a relation between predefined graphic elements and corresponding user interface functions of an application. The graphic elements and their relation to the corresponding user interface functions are specified by the GUI designer, typically in terms of the color or geometrical properties of the graphic elements. (These geometrical properties may also include providing graphic elements having the form of text characters.) The designer determines the positions, sizes and shapes of the elements of the GUI by means of the layout of the corresponding graphic elements on the screen. These elements are automatically mapped to the corresponding user interface functions. The mapping is maintained regardless of the operating system platform on which the application runs, and is unaffected by changes in the positions, sizes and shapes of the graphic elements. [0012] The designer lays out the graphic elements on the screen, preferably using a standard "paint" program, without the need for any special editor or application-specific tools. Users can thus design and customize their user interface freely, while the functional mapping of the on-screen controls is maintained automatically. There is substantially no limit to the number of different graphic elements that can be used in this manner to invoke user interface functions. On the other hand, it is also possible to introduce graphic elements in the dynamic skin that invoke multiple functions, for example, by using an element that has a color corresponding to one function and a geometrical property corresponding to another. Furthermore, a given correspondence of graphic elements to user interface functions may be maintained across multiple applications having common user interface functions, without the need for software adapters or program changes. By the same token, consistency of appearance and functionality can be easily maintained in the GUI of a given application, regardless of whether the application runs on a local host or over a network, and even when the GUI is presented to the user through an Internet browser. There is generally no need for graphic-related development or adjustments in order to adapt the GUI for different client/server application configurations. [0013] In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the dynamic skin is used to change aspects of the GUI easily, even during run-time of the underlying application. Such changes can be invoked by the user, or they can be triggered by application content. For example, in a media player application, the appearance of the GUI can change depending on the song or video clip that the application is playing. Similarly, run-time changes to the GUI can be used to provide multiple views of the application controls during run-time--for example, zoom-in and zoom-out views or multiple views associated with different audio/video channels (such that for each channel that the user selects, all or part of the view is changed). [0014] There is therefore provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for creating a graphic user interface (GUI) for a computer application, including: [0015] defining a relation that associates certain graphic elements with corresponding user interface elements that are linked to functions of the application; [0016] providing an image that includes one or more of the graphic elements at respective locations in the image; and [0017] generating a user interface screen responsive to the image, such that the user interface elements are mapped to positions on the screen determined by the respective locations of the corresponding graphic elements in the image. [0018] Preferably, defining the relation includes associating graphic elements of a given color with a corresponding one of the user interface elements, wherein associating the graphic elements of the given color includes identifying a certain color with a background region of the user interface screen, and wherein generating the user interface screen includes displaying the background region as a transparent region. [0019] Alternatively or additionally, defining the relation includes associating graphic elements of a given shape with a corresponding one of the user interface elements. [0020] Preferably, providing the image includes changing a graphic quality of one of the graphic elements in the image, and generating the user interface screen includes changing the corresponding user interface element on the screen responsive to changing the graphic quality, substantially without effect on the function to which the element is linked. Most preferably, changing the graphic quality includes changing the location of the one of the graphic elements, and changing the corresponding user interface element includes changing the position of the user interface element. Alternatively or additionally, changing the graphic quality includes changing a size characteristic of the one of the graphic elements, and changing the corresponding user interface element includes changing a corresponding size characteristic of the user interface element on the screen. [0021] Preferably, generating the user interface screen includes mapping the elements in a manner that is substantially independent of an operating platform on which the application runs. In a preferred embodiment, generating the user interface screen includes generating a browser screen on a computer accessing the application remotely via a network. Most preferably, generating the user interface screen includes generating substantially the same user interface on the browser and on a local client of the application. Further preferably, defining the relation includes defining a relation that is preserved across multiple, different applications. Continue reading about Dynamic user interface... Full patent description for Dynamic user interface Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Dynamic user interface patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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