Authoring tool for the authoring of wrap packages of cards

Abstract

An authoring tool for authoring wrap packages of cards. The authoring tool includes a set of tools that enable an author to create a new card of a wrap selected from a variety of card templates. In various embodiments, the card templates include textual, video, image/photo, document, gallery, chat, location/GPS, transact, appointment, and end-of-wrap card templates. When a particular card template is selected, the template is then duplicated to create the new card. Thereafter, the author may author the card to include various components, content, attributes, layouts, styles triggers and/or behaviors. As the cards of the wrap are created, the authoring tool provides the author with the ability to order the sequence of the cards. The authoring tool thus enables authors to selectively create wrap packages that include media that conveys a narrative story and application functionality.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An authoring tool, embedded in a tangible computer readable medium, the authoring tool configured to:
 enable authoring of a gallery card among a plurality of cards of a wrap package by enabling an author to:   (a) select a gallery card for the authoring;   (b) select a frame template among one or more frame template types;   (c) create a new frame from the selected frame template by duplicating the frame template;   (d) author the new frame;   (e) author a plurality of frames of the gallery card by repeating (a) through (d) for each of the plurality of frames respectively; and   (f) define a sequence order for rendering the plurality of frames of the gallery card;   the authoring tool further configured to:   (g) generate a card descriptor for the gallery card, the card descriptor enabling the rendering of the plurality of the frames of the gallery card in the defined sequence order at runtime of the wrap package, the wrap descriptor generated by:
 (1) generating a plurality of frame descriptors for the plurality of frames of the gallery card respectively; and 
 (2) generating the card descriptor from the plurality of frame descriptors. 
   
     
     
         2 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate the plurality of frame descriptors from one or more data objects generated for each of the plurality of frames respectively. 
     
     
         3 . The authoring tool of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more data objects are generated for the following contained in each frame:
 (i) component(s);   (ii) content of the component(s);   (iii) attribute(s) of the component(s);   (iv) style(s) of the component(s);   (v) trigger(s) associated with the component(s); and/or   (vi) behavior(s) associated with the component(s).   
     
     
         4 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of frame templates types include: a chat template, a document template, an image/photo template, a textual template, a video template, a location/GPS template, a transact template, and an appointment/booking template. 
     
     
         5 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , wherein creating the new frame from the selected frame template further comprises duplicating component(s) of the selected frame template when the new frame is created. 
     
     
         6 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , wherein creating the new frame from the selected frame template further comprises duplicating attribute(s) of the selected frame template when the new frame is created. 
     
     
         7 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool for enabling the author to associate an asset to a component of the new frame. 
     
     
         8 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool to enable the author to add a new component to the new frame. 
     
     
         9 . The authoring tool of  claim 8 , wherein the new component is selected from the group of:
 (i) a text component;   (ii) an image/photo component;   (iii) an action component.   
     
     
         10 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool to enable the author to modify an existing attribute or add a new attribute to the new frame. 
     
     
         11 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool to enable the author to add or modify a trigger to the new frame for triggering an action. 
     
     
         12 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a text tool for entering text into the new frame. 
     
     
         13 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a style tool for specifying a style for text, the style tool including one or more of the following: font type, size, justification and/or color. 
     
     
         14 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising an image/photo tool for associating an image/photo with the new frame so that the image/photo is displayed when the new frame is rendered. 
     
     
         15 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a video tool for defining an identifier associated with a video for presentation within the new frame when the new frame is rendered. 
     
     
         16 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a positioning and sizing tool for positioning and sizing how an asset appears in the new frame when rendered. 
     
     
         17 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more of the following:
 (i) a document tool for associating a document with the new frame so that the document appears when the new frame is rendered;   (ii) a chat tool for insertion of a chat function within the new frame;   (iii) an appointment/booking tool for insertion of an appointment/booking function within the new frame;   (iv) a transact tool for insertion of a transaction function within the new frame; and/or   (v) a GPS/location tool for insertion of GPS/location functionality within the new frame.   
     
     
         18 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for component(s) contained in the plurality of frames of the gallery card respectively. 
     
     
         19 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for content(s) contained in the plurality of frames of the gallery card respectively. 
     
     
         20 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for attribute(s) specified in the plurality of frames of the gallery card respectively. 
     
     
         21 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for style(s) specified in the plurality of frames of the gallery card respectively. 
     
     
         22 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for triggers(s) contained in the plurality of frames of the gallery card respectively. 
     
     
         23 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for behaviors(s) associated with the plurality of frames of the gallery card respectively. 
     
     
         24 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to enable the author to:
 (i) author the plurality of cards of the wrap package including the gallery card;   (ii) define one or more linear sequences for rendering the cards including the gallery card at runtime.   
     
     
         25 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate a plurality of card descriptors for the plurality of cards of the wrap package including the gallery card. 
     
     
         26 . The authoring tool of  claim 25 , further configured to generate a wrap descriptor from the plurality of card descriptors, the wrap descriptor enabling the rendering of the wrap package at runtime. 
     
     
         27 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a behavior tool for assigning a behavior to the frames of the gallery card. 
     
     
         28 . The authoring tool of  claim 27 , wherein the assigned behavior comprises one of the following:
 (i) “snap” to a next frame;   (ii) scroll to the next frame.