Multi-step auto-completion model for software development environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9244658-B2
Application number	US-201313909640-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 4, 2013
Priority date	Jun 4, 2013
Publication date	Jan 26, 2016
Grant date	Jan 26, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing auto-completion functionality in a source code editor are described. In accordance with the systems and methods, code entities that are candidates for auto-completion are presented to a user via multiple auto-completion menus that are accessed in steps rather than via a single auto-completion menu. The multiple auto-completion menus include at least a first menu and a second menu. The first menu includes a common portion (e.g., a common prefix) of a subset of the candidate code entities. The second menu includes the subset of the candidate code entities and is presented when the user selects the common portion from the first menu.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing auto-completion functionality in a source code editor, comprising:
identifying a plurality of code entities that are candidates for auto-completion based on data that a user has input into the source code editor, the plurality of code entities including a first subset of code entities having a first common set of initial characters;
presenting via a user interface of the source code editor a first list that includes an element that represents the first subset of code entities;
determining that the user has selected from the first list the element that represents the first subset of code entities; and
in response to determining that the user has selected from the first list the element that represents the first subset of code entities, presenting via the user interface a second list that includes at least one code entity in the first subset of code entities.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the user has selected a code entity from the second list; and
automatically completing input of the selected code entity into the source code editor.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the element in the first list that represents the first subset of code entities comprises the first common set of initial characters.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of code entities includes a plurality of attribute names.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first common set of initial characters associated with the first subset of code entities is “data-” and wherein presenting the first list comprises:
presenting a list that includes a “data-” element that represents the first subset of code entities.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first subset of code entities includes a second subset of code entities having a second common set of initial characters that is longer than and encompasses the first common set of initial characters and wherein the second list further includes an element that represents the second subset of code entities, the method further comprising:
determining that the user has selected from the second list the element that represents the second subset of code entities; and
in response to determining that the user has selected from the second list the element that represents the second subset of code entities, presenting via the user interface a third list that includes at least one code entity in the second subset of code entities.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a record of the plurality of code entities by performing at least one of:
parsing code input into the source code editor by the user; and
processing a document that includes one or more code entities associated with a coding framework.

8. A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a storage medium that stores computer program logic that is executable by the one or more processors, the computer program logic comprising:
a source code editor that is programmed to cause the one or more processors to provide a user interface that enables a user to enter source code into a document; and
auto-completion logic that is programmed to cause the one or more processors to identify a plurality of code entities that are candidates for auto-completion based on data that the user has input into the source code editor and to present the plurality of code entities to the user via a plurality of auto-completion menus, the plurality of auto-completion menus including at least a first menu that includes a common portion of a subset of the plurality of code entities and a second menu that includes the subset of the plurality of code entities and is presented when the user selects the common portion from the first menu.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the number of menus in the plurality of auto-completion menus is determined by the auto-completion logic based upon one or more of:
a number of code entities in the plurality of code entities; and
a structure of the code entities in the plurality of code entities.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the number of menus in the plurality of auto-completion menus is configurable by a user of the system.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the auto-completion logic is programmed to cause the one or more processors to present each menu in the plurality of auto-completion menus to the user via a separate user interface window.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the auto-completion logic is further programmed to cause the one or more processors to determine that the user has selected a code entity from the one of the plurality of auto-completion menus and, in response to the determination that the user has selected the code entity from the one of the plurality of auto-completion menus, to automatically complete entry of the selected code entity into the source code editor.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of code entities comprise a plurality of attribute names.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the common portion of the subset of the plurality of code entities is “data-”.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer program logic further comprises a parser that is programmed to cause the one or more processors to parse source code entered into the source code editor to generate a record of one or more code entities in the plurality of code entities.

16. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer program logic further comprises a document processor that is programmed to cause the one or more processors to process a document that includes code entities associated with a coding framework to generate a record of one or more code entities in the plurality of code entities.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the document processor is programmed to cause the one or more processors to process an XML schema document that includes the code entities associated with the coding framework.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage device having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processing unit to provide auto-completion functionality in a source code editor, the computer program logic comprising:
first computer program logic that, when executed by the processing unit, identifies a plurality of code entities that are candidates for auto-completion based on data that a user has input into the source code editor, the plurality of code entities including a first subset of code entities having a first common set of initial characters;
second computer program logic that, when executed by the processing unit, presents via a user interface of the source code editor a first list that includes an element that represents the first subset of code entities;
third computer program logic that, when executed by the processing unit, determines that the user has selected from the first list the element that represents the first subset of code entities; and
fourth computer program logic that, when executed by the processing unit, presents via the user interface a second list that includes at least one code entity in the first subset of code entities in response to the determination that the user has selected from the first list the element that represents the first subset of code entities.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , further comprising:
fifth computer program logic that, when executed by the processing unit, determines that the user has selected a code entity from the second list; and
sixth computer program logic that, when executed by the processing

Assignees

• Microsoft Corp
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Beckwith Justin
• Doan Thao
• Joshi Vishal R
• Lu Alison Q
• Yuen Wai Man
• Arkhipov Mikhail

Classifications

• G06F11/3612

  by runtime analysis (performance monitoring G06F11/3466) · CPC title

• G06F8/34

  Graphical or visual programming · CPC title

• G06F8/315

  Object-oriented languages · CPC title

• G06F8/20

  Software design · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title