User interface engine for Miniapp development

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10019242-B2
Application number	US-201715498168-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 26, 2017
Priority date	Apr 27, 2016
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

A method of generating a user interface. A user interface of tiles is displayed, the tiles represent building blocks. A tangible input device is used to manipulate the building blocks in the user interface by combining a first building block and a second building block. Metadata describing the first building block and the second building block is retrieved. A database is queried to retrieve data indicated by the metadata as being needed to build an application. The data is bound to the browser page. Rules are generated, the rules needed to create, using the data, the application from a combination of the first building block and the second building block. Code useable to execute the rules is obtained and the code is loaded into the browser. The code is combined into the application, wherein the user does not provide the code.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of displaying information on a display device of a computer, the method comprising:
displaying, on a display device in communication with the computer, a user interface comprising tiles, wherein the tiles consist of building blocks, each building block of the building blocks comprising a distinct, atomic unit of functionality executable by the computer to display a user interface on the display device;
manipulating, using a tangible input device in communication with the computer, the building blocks in the user interface, wherein manipulating includes combining in the user interface a first building block and a second building block in the building blocks;
retrieving, by the computer, metadata describing the first building block and the second building block, wherein the metadata also describes a layout for a browser page;
querying, by the computer, a database to retrieve data indicated by the metadata as being needed to build a user interface application executable by the computer;
binding, by the computer, the data to the browser page;
generating, by the computer, rules needed to create, using the data, the application from a combination of the first building block and the second building block;
obtaining, by the computer, code useable to execute the rules and loading the code into the browser;
combining, by the computer, the code into the application to form a user interface to be displayed on the computer, wherein the user does not provide the code; and
displaying the user interface on the display device.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
displaying the application in the user interface as a new tile.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
adding, by the computer, an adapter to the application, the adapter providing functionality for integrating the application with an external program not built using the computer.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
repeating displaying, manipulating, retrieving, querying, binding, generating, obtaining, and combining to form a second application; and
combining the application and the second application into a collection, the collection comprising a third application having a combined functionality of the application and the second application.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
repeating at least twice displaying, manipulating, retrieving, querying, binding, generating, obtaining, and combining to form a second application to form a fourth application and a fifth application;
combining the fourth application and the fifth application into a second collection comprising a sixth application having a combined functionality of the fourth application and the fifth application; and
combining the third application and the sixth application into a bundle, the bundle comprising a group of collections that function as a single program.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
adding, by the computer, an adapter to the third application and the sixth application the adapter providing functionality for integrating the bundle with a second bundle.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying, manipulating, retrieving, querying, binding, generating, obtaining, and combining are performed by a user interface engine executing on the computer, and wherein the method further comprises:
storing a state of the user interface engine in a tree structure.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
storing data queries as virtual pointers to underlying data; and
binding the data queries to the user interface engine.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
maintaining, by the user interface engine, a dependency graph of input parameters; and
inserting additional parameters into the data queries.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the code useable to execute the rules is obtained from a remote server.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
the remote server executing a user interface orchestrator that receives requests from the browser; and
the remote server passing the code and metadata to the browser such that the user interface engine can combine the first building block and the second building block at the computer.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing program code which, when executed by a processor, performs a computer implemented method of displaying information on a display device of a computer, the program code comprising:
program code for displaying, on a display device in communication with the computer, a user interface comprising tiles, wherein the tiles consist of building blocks, each building block of the building blocks comprising a distinct, atomic unit of functionality executable by the computer to display a user interface on the display device;
program code for manipulating, using a tangible input device in communication with the computer, the building blocks in the user interface, wherein manipulating includes combining in the user interface a first building block and a second building block in the building blocks;
program code for retrieving, by the computer, metadata describing the first building block and the second building block, wherein the metadata also describes a layout for a browser page;
program code for querying, by the computer, a database to retrieve data indicated by the metadata as being needed to build a user interface application executable by the computer;
program code for binding, by the computer, the data to the browser page;
program code for generating, by the computer, rules needed to create, using the data, the application from a combination of the first building block and the second building block;
program code for obtaining, by the computer, code useable to execute the rules and loading the code into the browser;
program code for combining, by the computer, the code into the application to form a user interface to be displayed on the computer, wherein the user does not provide the code; and
program code for displaying the user interface on the display device.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the program code further comprises:
computer usable program code for displaying the application in the user interface as a new tile.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the program code further comprises:
computer usable program code for adding, by the computer, an adapter to the application, the adapter providing functionality for integrating the application with an external program not built using the computer.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the program code further comprises:
computer usable program code for repeating displaying, manipulating, retrieving, querying, binding, generating, obtaining, and combining to form a second application; and
computer usable program code for combining the application and the second application into a collection, the collection comprising a third application having a combined functionality of the application and the second application.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 wherein the computer usable program code further comprises:
computer usable program code for repeating at least twice displaying, manipulating, retrieving, querying, binding, generating, obtaining, and combining to form a second application to form a fourth application and a fifth application;
computer usable program code for combining the fourth application and the fifth application into a second collection comprising a sixth application having a

Assignees

• Adp Llc

Inventors

• Rogers Thomas
• Noad Richard Benjamin

Classifications

• G06F8/35

  model driven · CPC title

• G06F8/34 Primary

  Graphical or visual programming · CPC title

• G06F8/38

  for implementing user interfaces · CPC title

• G06F9/451

  Execution arrangements for user interfaces · CPC title