Render transform based scrolling and panning for smooth effects

Abstract

An information display system is described herein that separates rendering of information from receiving that information so that the rendering portion can be quickly displayed to the user and the data can arrive as it is available to provide further detail. The rendering portion creates a hardware surface measured to fill the area to be consumed by the list box or other control. Independently, the information retrieval portion queries information from a server or other source and processes the information as it is received. The system can then perform a transformation on the previously created hardware surface to insert the information in the rendered control without re-laying out the entire control or recreating user interface elements. Moving a surface is a cheaper operation for a CPU and can easily be accelerated using a GPU.

I/we claim: 
     
         1 . A computing device for displaying a user interface, the computing device comprising:
 a memory configured to store instructions; and   a processor configured to execute the stored instructions, wherein execution of the stored instructions causes the computing device to:
 send information retrieval requests to one or more remote devices requesting information items; 
 while waiting for the requested information items, independently render a display that includes multiple interface elements, the multiple interface elements being individually associated with respective ones of the requested information items; 
 receive at least one of the requested information items; 
 determine which of the multiple interface elements is associated with the at least one received information item; 
 bind the at least one received information item to the determined interface element; and 
 update the display with the at least one received information item. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein rendition of the display includes:
 receiving layout information for the display, the layout information defining a visible area and a precached area.   
     
     
         3 . The computing device of  claim 2 , wherein rendition of the display includes:
 rendering the precached area of the user interface, the precached area being larger than the visible area.   
     
     
         4 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein rendition of the display includes:
 rendering the display based on layout information.   
     
     
         5 . The computing device of  claim 4 , wherein the layout information includes descriptions of sizes for portions of the display that are to be allocated to each of the requested information items. 
     
     
         6 . The computing device of  claim 4 , wherein the layout information includes information describing a size of a screen of the computing device. 
     
     
         7 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the display includes a number of reusable interface elements; and   execution of the stored instructions also causes the computing device to:
 reuse, in response to a scrolling of information items into a visible area, the reusable interface elements to display information items. 
   
     
     
         8 . A computing device-implemented method for displaying a user interface on the computing device, the method comprising:
 receiving layout information for a user interface to be at least partially displayed by the computing device, wherein the user interface includes a visible area and a precached area, wherein the user interface is associated with each of a plurality of user interface items, and wherein the plurality of user interface items includes at least one user interface item that has yet to be received by the computing device;   rendering, based at least in part on the received layout information, the user interface before receipt of the at least one user interface item that has yet to be received by the computing device;   displaying, by the computing device, a first portion of the rendered user interface, the first portion representing a first area of the user interface;   receiving a request to display a second portion of the rendered user interface, the second portion representing a second area of the user interface that is at least partially non-overlapping with the first area; and   in response to the received request, displaying, by the computing device, the second portion of the rendered user interface.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the layout information includes:
 descriptions of sizes for portions of the user interface that are to be allocated to each of the plurality of user interface items; and   information describing a size of a screen of the computing device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein rendering the user interface includes:
 determining screen coordinates for the user interface, a size of the user interface, and a size of the first portion and of the second portion.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein rendering the user interface includes:
 rendering the precached area of the user interface, the precached area being larger than the first portion.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the user interface includes a fixed number of reusable user interface elements; and   the method further comprises:
 reusing, in response to a scrolling of user interface items into a visible area, the fixed number of user interface elements to display user interface items of the plurality of user interface items. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of user interface items including a greater number of user interface items than are to be simultaneously displayed by the computing device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein displaying the second portion includes:
 displaying the second portion without rerendering the user interface.   
     
     
         15 . A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein for performing operations that display a user interface on a computing device, the operations comprising:
 sending information retrieval requests to one or more remote devices requesting information items;   while waiting for the requested information items, independently rendering a display that includes multiple interface elements, the multiple interface elements being individually associated with respective ones of the requested information items;   receiving at least one of the requested information items;   determining which of the multiple interface elements is associated with the at least one received information item;   binding the at least one received information item to the determined interface element; and   updating the display with the at least one received information item.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the rendering of the display includes:
 rendering the display before receiving of any of the requested information items.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the rendering of the display includes:
 rendering the display based on layout information, the layout information defining a visible area and a precached area.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the rendering of the display includes:
 rendering the precached area of the user interface, the precached area being larger than the visible area.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the layout information includes:
 descriptions of sizes for portions of the display that are to be allocated to each of the requested information items; and   information describing a size of a screen of the computing device.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the display includes a number of reusable interface elements; and   the operations further include:
 reusing, in response to a scrolling of information items into a visible area, the reusable interface elements to display information items.