摘要:
A method of communicating between a graphical component library and an appearance manager is provided that includes issuing a request, that includes component defining parameters, for rendering services by a graphical component library. The appearance manager receives the request for rendering services and assigns appearance characteristics to the graphical component based upon the provided parameters. A method of rendering graphical components on the display of a computer system is also provided that includes rendering the requested graphical component according to the appearance characteristics assigned by the appearance manager. A method is also provided for communicating between a graphical component library and an appearance manager that includes issuing a request, that includes component defining parameters, for information about the defined component. The appearance manager receives the request for information and provides the requested information to the graphical component library based upon the provided parameters.
摘要:
A method of specifying a visual style for a set of graphical components is provided for use on a computer system having a graphical operating environment. The method includes providing a schema file of available graphical components for which a visual style can be created. In the schema file, each component is defined by a unique class name. The method further includes selecting graphical components from the schema file that are desired to have a defined visual style. Properties are then assigned to these selected components according to the desired visual style, and pairs of selected graphical components and corresponding assigned properties for the defined visual style together are grouped together in a class data file that defines the overall appearance for the defined visual style.
摘要:
A user interface for navigating among screens on a personal computer. The screens, which include layers of a shell user interface and various locations within applications, are presented as pages. In addition, commands and help information of an application are presented as a web of command pages. To this end, a unit of measure, called a “place” is defined. In general, an application is a place, and separate documents within an application may also define a place. Separate command windows and dialog boxes within an application or a document typically do not define a place. Backwards navigation takes the user to the previous place, and forward navigation (if possible) takes the user to the next place. Because the underlying data for a page may change between an initial visit to a page and navigation back to the page, data objects and page code are maintained separately, and are combined only when a request for a page is made.
摘要:
A programming interface provides functions for generating applications, documents, media presentations and other content. These functions allow developers to obtain services from an operating system, object model service, or other system or service.
摘要:
A system theme schema file format includes declarations of enumerations, properties, control parts, and control part states for providing extensible theming of the visual appearance of a computer operating system's user interface components. Custom theme schema files can extend the system theme schema by adding declarations of custom enumerations, custom properties, custom control part, and custom control part states, thereby participating in theming of the visual appearance of components of the computer's operating system. The schema files establish the allowable form and content of data that specifies how user interface components should be displayed in accordance with particular themes. Themes are defined and user interface components are displayed by the operating system in accordance with the information specified in the schema files.
摘要:
A binary theme file format provides optimized access to retrieve graphical component theme property data. The binary format includes data structures storing a set of defined visual characteristics for graphical component classes, parts, and states. The data structure includes a hierarchy of theme data. A theme manager quickly retrieves theme property data by indexing into the binary file with a unique theme handle. The theme manager accesses state, part, class, and global property sections to retrieve theme data. Jump tables and jump-to-parent references allow for quickly traversing property data sections. Packed data sections have packed objects having the necessary property data for frequently used graphical components. A custom image region data section provides border data for nontransparent image borders. A sampled colors section facilitates rendering of images with solid sections. The binary file format can be constructed using a text theme file and is loaded into shared process memory.
摘要:
The present invention provides a system and method for dynamically populating a list of most used execution points in a graphical user interface of an operating system based upon the utilization behavior of a user. One embodiment provides for depicting a list of execution points to most used programs by determining a list of eligible programs, tracking the usage of the eligible programs in a usage list, taking into account chronological order of the activation of the programs and determining which programs in the usage list have the most usage. These programs then have execution points placed on a displayed most used list in the graphical user interface.
摘要:
A method of communicating between a graphical component library and an appearance manager is provided that includes issuing a request, that includes component defining parameters, for rendering services by a graphical component library. The appearance manager receives the request for rendering services and assigns appearance characteristics to the graphical component based upon the provided parameters. A method of rendering graphical components on the display of a computer system is also provided that includes rendering the requested graphical component according to the appearance characteristics assigned by the appearance manager. A method is also provided for communicating between a graphical component library and an appearance manager that includes issuing a request that includes component defining parameters, for information about the defined component. The appearance manager receives the request for information and provides the requested information to the graphical component library based upon the provided parameters.
摘要:
A system theme schema file format includes declarations of enumerations, properties, control parts, and control part states for providing extensible theming of the visual appearance of a computer operating system's user interface components. Custom theme schema files can extend the system theme schema by adding declarations of custom enumerations, custom properties, custom control part, and custom control part states, thereby participating in theming of the visual appearance of components of the computer's operating system. The schema files establish the allowable form and content of data that specifies how user interface components should be displayed in accordance with particular themes. Themes are defined and user interface components are displayed by the operating system in accordance with the information specified in the schema files.
摘要:
A method of specifying a visual style for a set of graphical components is provided for use on a computer system having a graphical operating environment. The method includes providing a schema file of available graphical components for which a visual style can be created. In the schema file, each component is defined by a unique class name. The method further includes selecting graphical components from the schema file that are desired to have a defined visual style. Properties are then assigned to these selected components according to the desired visual style, and pairs of selected graphical components and corresponding assigned properties for the defined visual style together are grouped together in a class data file that defines the overall appearance for the defined visual style.