Api for specifying display of complication on an electronic watch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016357282-A1
Application number	US-201514872117-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 30, 2015
Priority date	Jun 5, 2015
Publication date	Dec 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices can efficiently manage the displaying of text on a screen of a computing device. For example, a client application can provide a data object for a particular style window on the screen. The data object can include a data item, comprising text data, one or more units specifying one or more portions of the text data to be displayed in the style window, and an identifier corresponding to a particular display function to be used in displaying the text data. The display function can be invoked to determine a potential text string to display based on the text data, the one or more units, and one or more rules corresponding to the particular display function. Additional text strings can be generated to obtain a text string that is shorter than or equal to a maximum length for the data item.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for displaying text on a screen of a computing device, the method comprising, at the computing device:
receiving, from a user, a selection of a first client application for providing first information to be displayed in a first style window on the screen of the computing device; informing, by a display manager, the first client application that the first client application is assigned to the first style window; receiving, by the display manager from the first client application, a first data object including a first data item for displaying in the first style window, wherein the first data item includes:
first data,
one or more first units specifying one or more portions of the first data to be displayed in the first style window, and
a first identifier corresponding to a first display function to be used in displaying the first data;
invoking, by the display manager, the first display function to determine a first potential text string to display based on the first data and the one or more first units; determining a first length of the first potential text string; comparing the first length to a first maximum length for displaying the first data to determine that the first length is greater than the first maximum length; determining, with the first display function, a second potential text string having a second length that is shorter than the first length according to a first set of one or more rules; and displaying the second potential text string in the first style window when the second length is shorter than or equal to the first maximum length.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data object is defined using a first template of a first plurality of templates for the first style window.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein a second client application is selected for providing second information to be displayed in a second style window, the method further comprising, at the computing device:
receiving, by the display manager from the second client application, a second data object including a second data item for displaying in the second style window, wherein the second data object is defined using a second template of a second plurality of templates for the second style window, and wherein the second data item includes:
second data,
one or more second units specifying one or more portions of the second data to be displayed in the first style window, and
the first identifier corresponding to the first display function to be used in displaying the second data; and
invoking, by the display manager, the first display function for displaying, in the second style window, the second data with less than a second maximum length.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein after displaying the second potential text string in the first style window, a second client application is selected for providing data to be displayed in the first style window, the method further comprising, at the computing device:
receiving, by the display manager from the second client application, a second data object including a second data item for displaying in the first style window, wherein the second data object is defined using the first template, and wherein the second data item includes:
second data,
one or more second units specifying one or more portions of the second data to be displayed in the first style window, and
a second identifier corresponding to a second display function to be used in displaying the second data; and
invoking, by the display manager, the second display function for displaying, in the first style window, the second data with less than a second maximum length.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data object includes a second data item, wherein the second data item includes:
second data, one or more second units specifying one or more portions of the second data to be displayed in the first style window, and a second identifier corresponding to a second display function to be used in displaying the second data, the method further comprising, at the computing device:
invoking, by the display manager, the second display function for displaying, in the first style window, the second data with less than a second maximum length.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the second maximum length is different than the first maximum length.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is an electronic watch, and wherein the first information is displayed as complications on the watch.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data object includes a design property, wherein the first display function uses the design property to determine a format for displaying the first data.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first set of one or more rules is dependent on the design property.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first identifier includes an API function call with the first data and the one or more first units as arguments.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein first data is text data.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data includes a first date or a first time, and wherein the first display function determines a difference between a current date or a current time and the first date of the first time, respectively.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data item is a first data sub-item of a first parent data item, and wherein the first data sub-item is included in a plurality of data sub-items for displaying the first parent data item, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-items includes a respective identifier for a respective display function.

14 . A computer product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that when executed control a computing device to display text on a screen of the computing device, the instructions comprising:
receiving, from a user, a selection of a first client application for providing first information to be displayed in a first style window on the screen of the computing device; informing, by a display manager, the first client application that the first client application is assigned to the first style window; receiving, by the display manager from the first client application, a first data object including a first data item for displaying in the first style window, wherein the first data item includes:
first data,
one or more first units specifying one or more portions of the first data to be displayed in the first style window, and
a first identifier corresponding to a first display function to be used in displaying the first data;
invoking, by the display manager, the first display function to determine a first potential text string to display based on the first data and the one or more first units; determining a first length of the first potential text string; comparing the first length to a first maximum length for displaying the first data to determine that the first length is greater than the first maximum length; determining, with the first display function, a second potential text string having a second length that is shorter than the first length according to a first set of one or more rules; and displaying the second potential text string in the first style window when the second length is shorter than or equal to the first maximum length.

15 . The computer product of claim 14 , wherein the first data object is defined using a first template of a first plurality of templates for the first style window, wherein a second client application is selected for providing second informa

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Block Eliza C
• Schimon David A
• Wilson Eric Lance
• Salzman Paul W
• Guzman Aurelio
• Wilson Christopher

Classifications

• G06F40/166

  Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting · CPC title

• G06F40/10

  Text processing (natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40) · CPC title

• G06F40/103 Primary

  Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents (automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191) · CPC title

• G06F9/451

  Execution arrangements for user interfaces · CPC title

• G06F40/186

  Templates · CPC title