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End-user application customization using rulesRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Processing System, Knowledge Representation And Reasoning Technique, Ruled-based Reasoning SystemEnd-user application customization using rules description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20050246304, End-user application customization using rules. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application clams the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/567,153 entitled "END-USER APPLICATION CUSTOMIZATION USING RULES", filed on Apr. 30, 2004, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/567,149 entitled "DERIVED SET--A RULES-BASED QUERY-LIKE MECHANISM THAT DEFINES CONTENTS OF A COLLECTION" filed on Apr. 30, 2004, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/567,165, entitled "RULES FRAMEWORK FOR DEFINITION AND EXECUTION OF END-USER RULES LOGIC", filed on Apr. 30, 2004. This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. ______ (Atty. Dkt. No. MSFTP668USA) entitled "RULES FRAMEWORK FOR DEFINITION AND EXECUTION OF END-USER RULES LOGIC" filed on Jul. 30, 2004. The entireties of the above-noted applications are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] This invention is related to software that facilitates application customization, and more specifically, a rules abstraction architecture that facilitates application customization by an end-user. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Computers and computing have always divided the world of users into two classes: the knowledgeable "high priests" who know how to use computers in complex ways, to shape programs and enable behaviors that are valuable and rich; and the novice users, who are at their mercy, denied easy or cheap access to knowledge or information or the education to make computers serve their needs well. However, major breakthroughs in computing have occurred when technology has broken down some of these barriers to access. [0004] In the world of the mainframe, computers were too expensive for all but the largest businesses to afford. The advent of mini-computers, and then personal computers (PCs), broke down the cost barrier and made computers available to small businesses and individuals. [0005] In the 1980's, programmers struggled to build graphical user interface (GUI) applications, and without rich and consistent GUIs, were unable to build valuable applications for PC users. The Visual Basic revolution and the use of controls and event-based GUI construction enabled a whole army of application developers who could easily build rich applications. This also established a virtuous cycle with many more end-users who could exploit these applications. [0006] In the 1990's, end-users struggled to overcome a lack of access to information. The growth of the Internet and the web transformed this space, making almost all valuable information accessible to anyone with a browser. However, there are still significant barriers to overcome. [0007] Computing is not personal. There is very little about a PC that is truly "personal". The data on the local disk is personal. But the behavior of the machine (what it does on behalf of the user) is close to identical across millions of users. Despite owning an amazingly powerful general purpose computer, the average user treats it as a static tool, useful as a communication end-point, useful as a search entry-point, useful to execute some canned mass-market applications, but otherwise incapable of any "personal computing" in the true sense of the word. The personalization capabilities available in current applications just scratch the surface of what is possible and desirable. [0008] Computing is manual. Consider the daily routine of most typical computer end-users. The PC gathers information, reacts to communications, makes decisions and acts upon them--initiates or responds to communications, organizes information, buys and sells goods, travel, etc. Computers have improved communication between people, and have improved access to information. However, PCs have done little to relieve the end-user's responsibility to make decisions and act upon them at the right time. In the business world, there are decision support systems for major organizational decisions. Still software does not help the average PC user in the many everyday, yet important and personal decisions. [0009] Computing is not contextual. Computer software typically provides optional settings that are rather static and unrelated to the actual context of the user (e.g., "Why should I have the same set of messaging buddies at work and at home?"). [0010] Thus, users are still in the "pre-industrial age" of software by being increasingly trapped in the tyranny of manual information processing--spending hours every day sifting, sorting, searching, and reacting to e-mail, documents and other personal data. [0011] End-user software should be personalized, aware of the needs and preferences of the end-user, acting specifically in a manner guided by those needs and by the user context. Further, computer systems and software should provide every end-user with a personal executive assistant who works 24 hours a day gathering and sifting information of interest to the end-user, and reacting to that information. [0012] The most valuable class of end-user computing activity deals with information flows and search, such as ensuring the end-user sees relevant information (e.g., "Tell me if there is a school closing due to bad weather."), enhancing person-to-person communication with personalized behavior (e.g., "If I'm out of the office when my wife calls, let her know when I'll be back."), ensuring important information is not lost (e.g., "If there's an urgent e-mail, make sure it gets forwarded to me on my mobile device."), and automating the management of information (e.g., "As new photographs arrive, place them in the right folders and shares based on their timestamp, GPS location, and any relevant calendar entries."). [0013] The way to accomplish this is by allowing the end-user to "program" the behavior of the computer. However, traditional programming languages are clearly not the answer, in that, the end-user is not (and cannot become) a trained developer. [0014] What is needed is an improved mechanism that allows an end-user to personalize an operating system and an application. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0015] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. [0016] The present invention disclosed and claimed herein, in one aspect thereof, comprises architecture that facilitates data management of an application. Applications can now be personalized by the end-user for the end-user. Included is a customization component that facilitates the exposing of an application generated event to an end-user; and a rules component that allows the end-user to create one or more rules to associate with the event, which one or more rules facilitate the submission of application data associated with the event for external processing. Since each rule-enabled feature of the application is defined by the decision point, an event/trigger/change at the decision point can be managed by the end-user for various purposes. Application data exposed by the decision point can be processed externally to return a result to the application that modifies behavior of the application. [0017] Various functions of the application are rule-enabled. The end-user can then create rules for those functions to further manipulate data associated with the functions. Two kinds of application customization are called loosely-bound and tightly bound customization. In a loosely-bound customization, the application exposes an interceptor point, or "decision point" at which the end-user can attach customization rules. A rules is associated with the decision point by setting up an attachment type. Multiple different rules can be attached to a single application customization decision point using corresponding attachment types. The application does not "know" about the attached rules, but calls a method on the decision point item, and then processes the results. The method call causes a rules engine to be invoked on the right rules. [0018] In a tightly-bound customization, decision points are not used. The application invokes the rules directly, which allows greater control to the application on which the rules will be invoked, and what types of rules are allowed when the rule engine processes rules to return application customization results. Thus, the tightly-bound application identifies the correct rules for the rules-based decision and user by issuing a file system query for the rules that correspond to that application, user, decision and input, to be provided with the rules. In contrast with the loosely-bound application, the choice of rules based on the user, decision, and input is determined by the rules platform whenever the desision point input method is invoked by the calling application. [0019] In another aspect of the present invention, a learning component is provided that faclitates the application learning end-user behavior, and captures the behavior in the form of rules. [0020] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed and the present invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings. Continue reading about End-user application customization using rules... Full patent description for End-user application customization using rules Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this End-user application customization using rules 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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