JP2008516358A - Interactive computing device having a configurable user interface - Google Patents

Abstract

  An interactive computing device can support multiple UI configurations and can dynamically switch from one UI configuration to another during normal operation. The supported UI configurations are a subset of the possible permutations that can be derived from the software settings for different individual hardware and devices. Software written for such devices can support multiple configurations, and adapts its user interface to the requirements of new UI configurations, so Respond to dynamic switching. The device itself can also switch UI configurations in response to requests from software applications.

Description

  The present invention relates to interactive computing devices, particularly during operation between multiple user interface configurations obtained by combining a number of different individual hardware and software application settings. The present invention relates to interactive computing devices having various hardware configurations that can be dynamically switched.

  The provision of application programming interfaces (APIs) has been proposed. This API is intended to allow a developer to create an application once and run it on many different types of interactive computing devices.

  The term interactive computing device has both screens and other methods for displaying information and keyboards, keypads, button arrays, touch screens and other methods used as input for selecting information, etc. Should be construed as including devices. Today it includes personal devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile phones, smartphones, digital cameras, digital music players. Many other industrial and household appliances are included as well, from ATMs to household appliances (for example, washing machines and televisions), automobiles (including all types), railroads, boats and airplanes. The transport mechanism is also included.

The most prominent example in the prior art is the example for Java. As a technology that provides cross-platform operations without limiting the variety of platforms, it is described as follows (from http: java.sun.com/features/1997/aug/wora.html)
“In fact, from the moment the first operating system on the first mainframe was upgraded, computers have slowed down the path of increasing fragmentation and incompatibility. Two years ago, that trend A technology has emerged that provides the hope of bringing the coveted unity to today's fragmented computing environment, which is Java®, which is the difference in the underlying system. It defines a common computing architecture that transcends and promotes a new model of computing called "Write Once, Run Anywhere". . "
The Java (registered trademark) program is written to run on a Java (registered trademark) virtual machine instead of a physical computer. In other words, it is a virtual machine that runs on an actual computer. Thus, a programmer can develop a program that runs on the type of computer preferred by the programmer or the type of computer preferred by the customer. This is because the program runs inside the Java (registered trademark) virtual machine on those computers. This means that it is not necessary for a consumer to purchase “Mac® version” or “Microsoft Windows® version” when purchasing an application. Consumers can purchase "Java technology version". In addition, as long as the consumer has a Java virtual machine (the Java virtual machine is free and available from many vendors), the consumer You can purchase the program without worrying about whether or not it works.

  As a problem in the prior art as described above, a mechanism for realizing a function that can be operated on any platform once written depends on the existence of a Java (registered trademark) virtual machine (JVM). It is that you are. The JVM is a static entity and is written to separate (general purpose) software from (dedicated) hardware. The JVM is static because its performance is fixed when it is built. All similar solutions that depend on performance fixed at compile time, build time, or install time are equally static.

  Static performance is a problem because it is no longer true that the hardware on the device is unchanged. A class of computing devices is emerging that consists of hardware that can be reconfigured in a short time. For example, the smartphones P800 and P900 manufactured by Sony Ericsson can drive the flip open mode (large screen) or the flip closed mode (small screen). Further developments can be made in this area. For example, a device that drives in a two-hand touch screen mode or a one-hand button mode, a device that drives in either landscape or portrait orientation, or a device that drives at different levels of zoom for display can be developed.

  Probably the closest to such a device is the current desktop PC. A desktop PC can connect many different types of screens, including many different resolutions and color depths. All PC users know that the user interface (UI) does not automatically reconfigure itself even if the screen resolution changes during runtime. Sometimes a reboot may be necessary and the application needs to be terminated and restarted. However, reboot and restart are not considered practical options for devices that include mobile phone functionality. For example, there are current smartphones and PDAs as devices including the function of a mobile phone, and the user is required to be always enabled in an on state.

  All previous operating systems (OS) and user interfaces are essentially unchanged on hardware on a single device, so the OS needs to cope with hardware changes at runtime It could be assumed that there is no UI provided.

  New classes of software architecture are required to deal with new classes of hardware that can be reconfigured at runtime. However, adding native runtime support for different user interface configurations to existing software platforms is not easy. In fact, this will be expensive, time consuming and require major architectural changes that are risky to implement.

  Therefore, in view of the above points, the present invention is an interactive type that can support one or more UI configurations that can dynamically switch from one UI configuration to another UI configuration during normal operation. An object is to provide a computing device.

In order to solve the above problems, a computing device according to a first aspect of the present invention is an interactive computing device,
a. Means for operating in a plurality of supported user interface (UI) configurations;
b. In operation, a means for dynamically switching from one UI configuration to another UI configuration, and a supported set of UI configurations can be configured for multiple different individual hardware and software applications. Are selected from possible UI configurations obtained by combining.

An operation method according to a second aspect of the present invention is an operation method of an interactive computing device, comprising:
a. Operating the device in a plurality of supported user interface (UI) configurations;
b. Dynamically switching from one UI configuration to another during device operation, and a supported set of UI configurations can be configured with multiple different individual hardware and software configurations. Are selected from possible UI configurations obtained by combining.

  An operating system according to a third aspect of the present invention operates the interactive computing device according to the first aspect according to the method according to the second aspect.

  The present invention addresses the problem of applications operating in changing UI configurations in a new way. Just as it allows applications to be dynamically reconfigured to handle configuration changes at runtime, the present invention also provides for cases where it cannot operate without reconfiguration: An application can request dynamic reconfiguration of hardware at runtime. Furthermore, while reengineering an existing platform from the foundation is expensive and risky, the present invention is implemented almost completely at the UI level.

The basic concept of the present invention is as follows.
[System level view]
The UI configuration is a setting at a high level, such as a global setting / property that determines the look and feel of the computing device to the user. A set of settings consists of a combination of many different individual settings. It may include, among others:
Screen mode (Portrait, Landscape: Note that defining whether the screen rotates clockwise or counterclockwise is particularly important in landscape mode)
・ Direction (normal, reverse)
・ Zoom level (in, out)
・ Touch screen (yes, no)
・ UI style (menu bar, soft key)
These proposals are only examples, and the exact feasibility and the values they take are defined and controlled by the UI designer. Also, in the context of the present invention, they are not limited to the above settings. However, various permutations of settings and values make up the UI configuration. Therefore, for any particular device, a relatively large number of UI configurations are possible by combining different settings in various ways.

  The multidimensional complexity of devices that support this multiple UI configuration stems from the possible permutation of settings and values, and only a single setting (eg, personal computer display resolution) is considered. It differs from the simplicity of the device that needs to be played or the device on which the virtual machine is running.

  A device in which the present invention is implemented may support one or more UI configurations. Support for multiple UI configurations on a single device requires the device to be able to switch between different UI configurations at runtime. The set of UI configurations supported by the device is referred to as the system UI configuration in the context of the present invention.

  There are many allowed system UI configurations on the device, all of which may be stored in a configuration file that is always set up by the hardware manufacturer. In that case, it must be protected from unauthorized tampering. A method for storing the configuration file in read-only memory is proposed. Alternatively, a method is proposed for introducing a platform security model as disclosed in UK Patent Application No. 0313191.0 or 0312190.2. However, the list of available system UI configurations is accessible to the application framework running on the device.

  There is one activated system configuration among the available system UI configurations at any time. Such a configuration is called a current UI configuration.

Application level view
Applications that are either written for or optimized for multiple UI configurations will only work with UI configurations supported by the device. Thus, the application need not be required to support all UI configurations.

  Each application can support multiple UI configurations (potentially not supported by the device), and can identify them by UI configuration ID.

  When the application is started, an optimal combination is found between the UI configuration that the application can support and the system UI configuration supported by the device. If one of the possible combinations is the current UI configuration, a specific configuration is selected.

  However, if the application cannot operate in the current UI configuration and can be combined with other possible system UI configurations, it will require the application framework to change to a supported UI configuration. be able to.

  For example, if a view in an application automatically switches from portrait to landscape, the view may require a different screen mode as the desired screen mode. Before the view is activated, the framework requires the desired screen mode. Here, if the specified mode exists, the system automatically switches to the appropriate UI configuration.

  The following shows a preferred embodiment developed for the UIQ user interface. The UIQ user interface used in Symbian OS® is written by UIQ Technologies, Loneby, Sweden. Symbian OS is an advanced operating system made by Symbian Software in London, UK. This is provided to illustrate the principles underlying the present invention and should not be construed as indicating that its application is limited to a particular operating system and user interface. .

  While some familiarity with Symbian OS and UIQ is necessary to fully understand a particular embodiment, the disclosed background principles of the present invention apply to any OS can do. Also, the insights disclosed herein will be readily understood by those skilled in the art of designing user interfaces and operating systems.

  In the exemplary UIQ / Symbian OS implementation, the UI configuration for each application is stored in a resource file (.rss) and identified by ui_config_id's. This file is linked to the .ra files for each configuration. To avoid the need to store common settings in all .ra files, the default .ra file is shown with the deviation stored in the individual .ra files.

  At device startup, system configuration settings supported by the device are generated.

Vertical orientation with one hand ・ EQikUiConfigPortrait
・ EQikUiConfigOrientationNormal
・ EQikUiConfigSoftKey
・ EQikUiConfigTouchScreenNo

Classic (both hands) portrait orientation, EQikUiConfigPortrait
・ EQikUiConfigOrientationNormal
・ EQikUiConfigMenu
・ EQikUiConfigTouchScreenYes

One hand sideways, EQikUiConfigLandscape
・ EQikUiConfigOrientationNormal
・ EQikUiConfigSoftKey
・ EQikUiConfigTouchScreenNo

Classic (both hands) sideways, EQikUiConfigLandscape
・ EQikUiConfigOrientationNormal
・ EQikUiConfigMenu
・ EQikUiConfigTouchScreenYes

One-handed flip closed EQikUiConfigFlipClosed
・ EQikUiConfigOrientationNormal
・ EQikUiConfigSoftKey
・ EQikUiConfigTouchScreenNo

Classic (both hands) Flip Closed EQikUiConfigFlipClosed
・ EQikUiConfigOrientationNormal
・ EQikUiConfigMenu
・ EQikUiConfigTouchScreenYes

  However, if the uiconfig.dat file exists in c: \ system \ data, the default configuration setting is not generated. The configuration is read from the file instead. The uniconfig.dat file is a temporary solution used to boot the device in a specific screen mode.

  It is possible to switch between possible UI configurations with Ctrl + Alt + Shift + U. Possible screen modes may be determined by Windows Server from a list in wsini.ini. An example is shown below.

AUTOCLEAR 0
STARTUP \ SYSTEM \ PROGRAMS \ QStart
REMOVEFADINGONFOCUSGAIN
WINDOWMODE COLOR64K
TRANSPARENCY
FLICKERFREEREDRAW
SIZE_MODE 0
SCR_WIDTH1 240
SCR_HEIGHT1 320
SCR_ROTATION1 0 180
SCR_WIDTH2 320
SCR_HEIGHT2 240
SCR_ROTATION2 90 270
SCR_WIDTH3 240
SCR_HEIGHT3 208
SCR_ROTATION3 0 180

  The order in which the different screen modes are listed must be consistent with the order of declarations in TQikScreenMode to be found in QikUiConfigManager.h.

[Activate View]
If you try to switch to an application that does not specify any supported device configuration in the QIK_UI_CONFIG struct, the device will attempt to switch to the system default view for the current screen mode.

[QikScreenDeviceChangeHandler]
If it is possible to apply for a change in the UI configuration, the screendevice-change-handler is CCoeStatic. Changes are propagated through the MQikScreenDeviceChangeObserver interface.

[QikUiConfigManager]
The UI-config managaer is CCoeStatic, where information is retrieved for the current UI configuration. A part of the API is shown below.

[Naming convention for rss files]
When a view is implemented with a resource file, the file size grows too quickly. In such cases, for example, a naming convention is introduced that indicates that the view should use one .ra file for each UI configuration. Developers are usually interested in only one configuration at a time. Also, usually there is no concern about changes in other configurations. Physically separating different configurations into different files simplifies the question of whether you need to be concerned about certain changes.

  The proposal is to separate layout, control, view, and command resources into separate UI configuration specific .ra files (included in .rss file). Some resources (layout and command list) are shared between multiple UI configurations, and resources should not be duplicated. Therefore, a separate .ra file with shared resources should be used.

  Therefore, the present invention can generate software for a device that can be operated on any platform once created. By providing an interactive computing device that can support multiple UI configurations, the device has the ability to be reconfigured at runtime. The device can also dynamically switch from one UI configuration to another during normal operation. The supported UI configurations are a subset of the possible permutations that can be derived from all the different individual hardware and software settings. Software written for such devices may support multiple configurations. In addition, the user interface may be adapted to dynamic switching in the UI configuration by adapting it to a new UI configuration request. The device itself may switch the UI configuration in response to a request from one of the software applications.

  Although the invention has been described with particular reference to the embodiments, it may be modified as appropriate within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (13)

An interactive computing device,
Means to operate in multiple supported user interface configurations;
Means for dynamically switching from one user interface configuration to another during operation,
A set of supported user interface configurations is selected from possible user interface configurations obtained by combining multiple different individual hardware and software application settings. An interactive computing device characterized by:   The interactive computing device of claim 1, wherein the set of supported user interface configurations is stored in a read-only file protected from unauthorized tampering.   The interactive computing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the user interface configuration is switched in response to a request from a software application on the device.   The software application is configured to prevent changes in the user interface configuration from occurring when the software application supports a current user interface configuration on the device. 4. The interactive computing device according to 3.   List the user interface configurations in priority order, and the user interface configurations supported by the software application when the software application requests a switch in the user interface configuration. 5. An interactive computing device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein an optimal combination is selected from the user interface configuration supported by the device.   6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the setting includes at least one of a screen mode, a direction of the device, a zoom level, a touch screen, and a style of the user interface. Interactive computing device. A method of operating an interactive computing device, comprising:
Operating the device in a plurality of supported user interface configurations;
Dynamically switching from one user interface configuration to another user interface configuration during operation of the device;
The set of supported user interface configurations is selected from the possible user interface configurations obtained by combining multiple different individual hardware and software settings. A method of operating an interactive computing device characterized.   8. The method of operating an interactive computing device of claim 7, wherein the set of supported user interface configurations is stored in a read-only file protected from unauthorized tampering. .   9. The switching from the one user interface configuration to the other user interface configuration is performed in response to a request from a software application on the device. A method of operating an interactive computing device as described in.   Configuration so that no change in the user interface configuration occurs when the current user interface configuration on the device is supported by a software application running on the device 10. A method of operating an interactive computing device as recited in claim 9, wherein: Listing the user interface configurations in order of preference of the software application;
Optimal combination between the user interface configuration supported by the application and the user interface configuration supported by the device when a switch in the user interface configuration occurs The method for operating an interactive computing device according to claim 7, further comprising:   12. The setting according to claim 7, wherein the setting includes at least one of a screen mode, a direction of the device, a zoom level, a touch screen, and a style of the user interface. A method of operating an interactive computing device according to claim 1.   An operating system for operating a computing device according to the method of any one of claims 7-12.