Selectively enabling runtime editing of an application

Abstract

A method includes receiving credentials at a computing device. The credentials are evaluated to determine whether a user associated with the credentials is authorized to edit an application while the application is being executed. Upon determining that the user is authorized, an editing control is enabled. The editing control is associated with a graphical user interface (GUI) element of the application and is operable to update the GUI element during execution of the application.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving credentials at a computing device;   evaluating the credentials to determine whether a user associated with the credentials is authorized to edit an application while the application is being executed; and   upon determining that the user is authorized, enabling an editing control, wherein the editing control is associated with a graphical user interface (GUI) element of the application, and wherein the editing control is operable to update the GUI element during execution of the application.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving input via the editing control. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising automatically modifying one or more files of the application based on the input. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more files of the application include a hypertext markup language (HTML) file, a cascading style sheets (CSS) file, an extensible markup language (XML) file, a source code file, a data file, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising automatically updating the GUI element during the execution of the application to reflect the input. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein automatically updating the GUI element comprises updating a layout of the GUI element. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein automatically updating the GUI element comprises updating a data type associated with the field, updating a minimum value associated with the field, updating a maximum value associated with the field, updating one or more data validation rules associated with the field, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the credentials are associated with a read-only permission level, a read-write data permission level, or a read-write application permission level. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
 receive credentials;   evaluate the credentials to determine whether a user associated with the credentials is authorized to edit an application while the application is being executed; and   upon determining that the user is authorized, enable an editing control associated with a graphical user interface (GUI) element of the application, the editing control configured to update the GUI element during the execution of the application.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 9 , wherein the credentials comprise a user name, a password, a certificate, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 9 , wherein the application comprises a web application. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the web application includes a form, and wherein the GUI element is a field of the form. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the application includes a runtime layer and an edit mode runtime extension. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the runtime layer comprises a hypertext markup language (HTML) layer, a cascading style sheets (CSS) layer, or a run mode layer. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the application is operable to execute the edit mode runtime extension in conjunction with execution of the run mode layer without context switching between the run mode layer and a different mode. 
     
     
         16 . A computer system, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
 receive credentials; 
 evaluate the credentials to determine whether a user associated with the credentials is authorized to edit an application while the application is being executed; and 
 upon determining that the user is authorized, enable an editing control associated with a graphical user interface (GUI) element of the application, the editing control configured to update the GUI element during the execution of the application. 
   
     
     
         17 . The computer system of  claim 16 , further comprising an output interface configured to transmit the GUI element of the application to a display device. 
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to disable the editing control when the user is not authorized to edit the application while the application is being executed. 
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 18 , wherein disabling the editing control comprises disabling an edit mode runtime extension. 
     
     
         20 . The computer system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor:
 disables all editing controls at the application upon determining that the credentials are associated with a read-only permission level;   enables a subset of editing controls at the application upon determining that the credentials are associated with a read-write data permission level; and   enables all editing controls at the application upon determining that the credentials are associated with a read-write application permission level.