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 an author to create a wrap package, the authoring tool configured to enable an author to:   (a) select a card type among a plurality of card types for the authoring of a new card;   (b) select a card template from one or more card templates of the selected card type;   (c) author the new card by authoring a copy of the selected card template;   (d) repeat (a) through (c) for authoring a plurality of cards of the wrap package; and   (f) define one or more sequence order(s) for rendering the plurality of cards in the wrap package; and   generate a wrap descriptor for the wrap package, the wrap descriptor enabling the rendering of the plurality of the cards of the wrap package in the one or more sequence order(s), the wrap descriptor generated by the authoring tool by:   (g) generating a plurality of card descriptors for the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively; and   (h) generating the wrap descriptor from the plurality of card descriptors, wherein the generated wrap descriptor defines the wrap package at runtime.   
     
     
         2 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate the plurality of card descriptors from one or more data objects generated for each of the plurality of cards respectively. 
     
     
         3 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , wherein the card type comprises one of the following card types: a chat card, a document card, an image/photo card, a textual card, a video card, a location/GPS card, a gallery card, a transact card, an appointment/booking card, and an end of wrap package card. 
     
     
         4 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to copy component(s) of the selected card template when the new card is created. 
     
     
         5 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to copy attributes(s) of the selected card template when the new card is created. 
     
     
         6 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool for enabling the author to associate an asset to a component of the new card. 
     
     
         7 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool to enable the author to add a new component to the new card. 
     
     
         8 . The authoring tool of  claim 7 , wherein the new component is selected from the group of:
 (i) a text component;   (ii) an image/photo component;   (iii) an action component.   
     
     
         9 . 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 card. 
     
     
         10 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool to enable the author to modify or add a style to the new card. 
     
     
         11 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool to enable the author to add or modify a trigger to the new card for triggering an action. 
     
     
         12 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a tool to enable the author to define a behavior associated with the new card. 
     
     
         13 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (i) a text tool for entering text into the new card; and   (ii) a style tool for specifying a style of the entered text, the specified style including one or more of the following: font, size, justification and/or color.   
     
     
         14 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (i) an image/photo tool for associating an image/photo with the new card so that the image/photo is displayed when the new card is rendered; and   (ii) a positioning and sizing tool for positioning and sizing the appearance of the image/photo in the new card.   
     
     
         15 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (i) a video tool for defining an identifier associated with a video for presentation within the new card when the new card is rendered; and   (ii) a positioning and sizing tool for positioning and sizing the video in the new card when rendered.   
     
     
         16 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a document tool for associating a document with the new card so that the document appears when the new card is rendered. 
     
     
         17 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a chat tool for insertion of a chat function within the new card. 
     
     
         18 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising an appointment/booking tool for insertion of an appointment/booking function within the new card. 
     
     
         19 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a transact tool for insertion of a transaction function within the new card. 
     
     
         20 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further comprises a GPS/location tool for insertion of GPS/location functionality within the new card. 
     
     
         21 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further including a naming tool enabling the author to name the wrap package. 
     
     
         22 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further including an ID tool configured to assign a wrap ID to the wrap package. 
     
     
         23 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further including a cover tool for assigning a cover to the wrap package. 
     
     
         24 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for component(s) contained in the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively. 
     
     
         25 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for content(s) contained in the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively. 
     
     
         26 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for attribute(s) specified in the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively. 
     
     
         27 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for style(s) specified in the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively. 
     
     
         28 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for style(s) specified in the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively. 
     
     
         29 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for triggers(s) contained in the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively. 
     
     
         30 . The authoring tool of  claim 1 , further configured to generate one or more data objects for behaviors(s) associated with the plurality of cards of the wrap package respectively.