Methods and systems for dynamically creating user interfaces

Abstract

A data presentation system dynamically generates and renders a user interface (UI) in the form of a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document. Extensible Markup Language (XML) data files contain data that defines the UI. The XML data is maintained independently of any application and/or computing system's settings and controls that define the presentation of the UI. The XML data files also have reference links to secondary data files that contain data further defining the UI. The UI is dynamically generated when an application invokes the XML data files. The HTML document incorporates the data from both the XML data files and from the secondary data files when rendering the UI.

1 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system comprising: 
 an extensible markup language (XML) data file having XML data configured to define a control panel UI;    a second data file having secondary data configured to further define the control panel UI;    the XML data file having a reference link to the second data file; and    a browser to process the XML data and the second data to dynamically generate the control panel UI.    
   
   
       2 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising an XML schema configured to define a format of the control panel UI data in the XML data file and in the second data file.  
   
   
       3 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising an extensible stylesheet language (XSL) template wherein the browser has an XSL processor to process the XML data and the second data to dynamically generate the control panel UI.  
   
   
       4 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the control panel UI is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) document.  
   
   
       5 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the browser renders the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the second data file.  
   
   
       6 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a display to render the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating for display the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the second data file.  
   
   
       7 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the reference link being configured to intuitively describe the second data.  
   
   
       8 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system comprising: 
 an extensible markup language (XML) data file having data configured to define a control panel UI;    one or more secondary data files having control panel UI data configured to further define the control panel UI;    the XML data file having a reference link to the one or more secondary data files;    an XML schema configured to define a format of the control panel UI data in the XML data file and in the one or more secondary data files;    an extensible stylesheet language (XSL) template; and    a browser having an XSL processor to process the control panel UI data with the XSL template to dynamically generate the control panel UI.    
   
   
       9 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the control panel UI is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) document.  
   
   
       10 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the browser renders the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the one or more secondary data files.  
   
   
       11 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 8 , further comprising a display to render the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating for display the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the one or more secondary data files.  
   
   
       12 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the reference link being configured to intuitively describe the control panel UI data in the one or more secondary data files.  
   
   
       13 . A data presentation system comprising: 
 a first data file having first data configured to define a document;    a second data file having second data to further define the document;    the first data file having a reference link to the second data file; and    an application configured to invoke the first data file to generate the document, wherein invoking the first data file initiates the reference link to invoke the second data file so that the document contains the first and second data when generated.    
   
   
       14 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising a display to render the document, the document incorporating for display the first and second data.  
   
   
       15 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the document is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) user interface.  
   
   
       16 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the document is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) control panel user interface.  
   
   
       17 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 13 , to wherein: 
 the first data file is an extensible markup language (XML) data file having XML data configured to define the document; and    the document is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) user interface incorporating the XML data and the second data.    
   
   
       18 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the reference link being configured to intuitively describe the second data.  
   
   
       19 . A computing system comprising: 
 a memory;    a processor;    an extensible markup language (XML) data file stored in the memory, the XML data file having control panel UI data configured to define a control panel user interface (UI) for the computing system;    a second data file stored in the memory, the second data file having control panel UI data configured to further define the control panel UI for the computing system;    the XML data file having a reference link to the second data file; and    a browser executable on the processor, the browser configured to process the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the second data file to dynamically generate the control panel UI.    
   
   
       20 . A computing system as recited in  claim 19 , further comprising an XML schema stored in the memory, the XML schema configured to define a format of the control panel UI data in the XML data file and in the second data file.  
   
   
       21 . A computing system as recited in  claim 19 , further comprising an extensible stylesheet language (XSL) template stored in the memory wherein the browser has an XSL processor to process the control panel UI data with the XSL template to dynamically generate the control panel UI.  
   
   
       22 . A computing system as recited in  claim 19 , wherein the control panel UI is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) document.  
   
   
       23 . A computing system as recited in  claim 19 , wherein the browser renders the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the second data file.  
   
   
       24 . A computing system as recited in  claim 19 , further comprising a display to render the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating for display the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the second data file.  
   
   
       25 . A computing system as recited in  claim 19 , wherein the reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the reference link being configured to intuitively describe the control panel UI data contained in the second data file.  
   
   
       26 . A computing system comprising: 
 a memory;    a processor;    an extensible markup language (XML) data file stored in the memory, the XML data file having data configured to define a control panel user interface (UI) for the computing system;    one or more secondary data files stored in the memory, the one or more secondary data files having control panel UI data configured to further define the control panel UI for the computing system;    the XML data file having at least one reference link to the one or more secondary data files;    an XML schema stored in the memory, the XML schema configured to define a format of the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the one or more secondary data files;    an extensible stylesheet language (XSL) template stored in the memory; and    a browser executable on the processor, the browser having an XSL processor to process the control panel UI data with the XSL template to dynamically generate the control panel UI.    
   
   
       27 . A computing system as recited in  claim 26 , wherein the control panel UI is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) document.  
   
   
       28 . A computing system as recited in  claim 26 , wherein the browser renders the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the one or more secondary data files.  
   
   
       29 . A computing system as recited in  claim 26 , further comprising a display to render the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating for display the control panel UI data contained in the XML data file and in the one or more secondary data files.  
   
   
       30 . A computing system as recited in  claim 26 , wherein said at least one reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the said at least one reference link being configured to intuitively describe the control panel UI data contained in the one or more secondary data files.  
   
   
       31 . A control panel hierarchy comprising: 
 one or more navigation pages having selectable reference links, the reference links being configured to initiate the dynamic generation of a task page; and    one or more task pages having selectable reference links, the reference links being configured to initiate the dynamic generation of one or more control panel user interfaces (UIs).    
   
   
       32 . A control panel hierarchy as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the one or more navigation pages and the one or more task pages are configured to be rendered as hypertext markup language (HTML) documents.  
   
   
       33 . A control panel hierarchy as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the one or more control panel UIs are configured to be rendered as hypertext markup language (HTML) documents.  
   
   
       34 . A control panel hierarchy as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the one or more navigation pages, the one or more task pages, and the one or more control panel UIs are each defined individually by extensible markup language (XML) data contained in one or more XML data files.  
   
   
       35 . A control panel hierarchy as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the one or more navigation pages, the one or more task pages, and the one or more control panel UIs are defined collectively by an XML schema.  
   
   
       36 . A control panel hierarchy as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the selectable reference links are subsets of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the selectable reference links being configured to intuitively describe the one or more task pages and the one or more control panel UIs.  
   
   
       37 . An extensible markup language (XML) data file stored on a computer-readable medium comprising: 
 first data to define a document; and    a reference link to invoke a second data file wherein the reference link can be initiated by an application to invoke second data stored in the second data file, the second data coordinating with the first data to further define the document.    
   
   
       38 . An XML data file as recited in  claim 37 , wherein the document is a hypertext markup language (HTML) control panel user interface (UI).  
   
   
       39 . An XML data file as recited in  claim 37 , wherein the reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the reference link being configured to intuitively describe the second data.  
   
   
       40 . A control panel user interface (UI) presentation system comprising: 
 means for invoking an XML data file having XML data configured to define a control panel UI and having a reference link to reference a second data file having secondary data configured to further define the control panel UI;    means for loading the XML data and the secondary data into a browser;    means for verifying that the XML data and the secondary data is a valid representation of an XML schema, the XML schema defining a format of the XML data and of the secondary data; and    means for processing the XML data and the secondary data with an XML template to dynamically generate the control panel UI.    
   
   
       41 . A document presentation system comprising: 
 means for invoking a first data file having first data configured to define a document and having a reference link to a second data file having second data configured to further define the document; and    means for processing the first data and the second data to dynamically generate the document, the second data invoked for said processing as a result of said invoking the first data file.    
   
   
       42 . A method for rendering a control panel user interface (UI) comprising: 
 invoking an XML data file having XML data configured to define a control panel UI and having a reference link to reference a second data file having second data configured to further define the control panel UI;    loading the XML data and the second data into a browser;    verifying that the XML data and the second data is a valid representation of an XML schema, the XML schema defining a format of the XML data and of the second data; and    processing the XML data and the second data with an XML template to dynamically generate the control panel UI.    
   
   
       43 . A method for rendering a control panel user interface (UI) as recited in  claim 42  further comprising displaying the control panel UI, the control panel UI incorporating the XML data and the second data for display.  
   
   
       44 . A method for rendering a control panel user interface (UI) as recited in  claim 42 , wherein the reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture, the reference link being configured to intuitively describe the second data.  
   
   
       45 . A computer-readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a computing system to perform the method of  claim 42 .  
   
   
       46 . A computer-readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for rendering a document comprising: 
 invoking a first data file having first data configured to define a document and having a reference link to a second data file having second data configured to further define the document; and    processing the first data and the second data to dynamically generate the document, the second data invoked for said processing as a result of said invoking the first data file.    
   
   
       47 . A computer-readable medium comprising computer executable instructions as recited in  claim 46 , further comprising displaying the document, the document incorporating the first data and the second data for display.  
   
   
       48 . A data presentation system comprising: 
 a data file having data configured to define a document;    an application having a reference link to the data file, the reference link being configured to intuitively describe the data; and    the application being configured to initiate the reference link to invoke the data such that the document contains the data when generated.    
   
   
       49 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 48 , wherein the document incorporates the data when the document is rendered for display on a display device.  
   
   
       50 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 48 , wherein the document is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) user interface.  
   
   
       51 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 48 , wherein the document is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) control panel user interface.  
   
   
       52 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 48 , wherein the data file is an extensible markup language (XML) data file having XML data configured to define the document, and wherein the document is a dynamically generated hypertext markup language (HTML) control panel user interface incorporating the XML data.  
   
   
       53 . A data presentation system as recited in  claim 48 , wherein the reference link is a subset of navigable nodes in a navigation architecture.