Combined local and server context menus

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure render a context menu upon receiving a context menu indication from a user. The context menu comprises a combination of local context menu items and remote context menu items that are selected based on the context received with the context menu indication. The context menu is created by identifying a set of local and remote context menu item providers and receiving both a rank and HTML based on the received context. The set of local and remote context menu items are ranked according to their respective rank and a number of ranked context menu items are selected. The HTML for the selected context menu items are combined and the combined HTML is rendered to yield the context menu. The context menu is presented to the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computing system comprising:
 a processor; and   memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
 receiving an indication that a context menu has been requested with respect to an item displayed in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a first computer-executable application; 
 constructing the context menu based upon the indication, wherein the context menu comprises:
 a first selectable menu item that is representative of a first action that is performable with respect to the displayed item by a second computer-executable application; and 
 a second selectable menu item that is representative of a second action that is performable with respect to the displayed item by a third computer-executable application; and 
 
 causing the context menu to be displayed in the GUI of the first computer-executable application. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computing system of  claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
 receiving an indication that the first selectable menu item has been selected; and   providing the displayed item to the second computer-executable application, wherein the second computer-executable application performs the first action with respect to the displayed item.   
     
     
         3 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein the second computer-executable application is a search application, and wherein the first action with respect to the displayed item comprises performing a search based upon the displayed item. 
     
     
         4 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein the displayed item is an image, and further wherein the first computer-executable application is an image editing application. 
     
     
         5 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein the displayed item is a phrase, wherein the second computer-executable application is a search application, and further wherein the first action with respect to the phrase comprises identifying an instant answer with respect to the phrase. 
     
     
         6 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the context menu additionally comprises a third selectable menu item that is representative of an action that is performable with respect to the displayed item by the first computer-executable application. 
     
     
         7 . The computing system of  claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
 ranking the first computer-executable application relative to the second computer-executable application based upon the displayed item, wherein the first selectable menu item is displayed above the second selectable menu item in the context menu based upon the ranking of the first computer-executable application relative to the second computer-executable application.   
     
     
         8 . The computing system of  claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
 receiving first rendering code from the first computer-executable application;   receiving second rendering code from the second computer-executable application; and   rendering the context menu in the GUI of the first computer-executable application based upon the first rendering code and the second rendering code.   
     
     
         9 . The computing system of  claim 8 , wherein the first rendering code is HTML and the second rendering code is HTML. 
     
     
         10 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first computer-executable application is a word processing application. 
     
     
         11 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first selectable menu item is included in the context menu based upon actions previously performed by the first computer-executable application. 
     
     
         12 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first computer-executable application is provided by a first provider, the second computer-executable application is provided by a second provider, and the third computer-executable application is provided by a third provider. 
     
     
         13 . A method performed by a computer processor, the method comprising:
 obtaining, by a first application, an indication that a user of the first application has requested invocation of a context menu with respect to an item that is presented to the user by way of the first application;   identifying, by the first application and based upon the indication, a first context menu item provider, wherein the first context menu item provider has a first rank assigned thereto, and further wherein the first context menu item provider corresponds to the first computer-implemented functionality performable by the first application with respect to the item;   identifying, by the first application and based upon the indication, a second context menu item provider, wherein the second context menu item provider has a second rank assigned thereto, and further wherein the second context menu item provider corresponds to the second computer-implemented functionality performable by a second application with respect to the item;   selecting, by the first application, the first context menu item provider and the second context menu item provider based upon the first rank and the second rank; and   presenting, by the first application, the context menu in a graphical user interface (GUI) of the first application, wherein the context menu comprises:
 a first menu item provided by the first context menu item provider; and 
 a second menu item provided by the second context menu item provider. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising ordering, by the first application, the first menu item relative to the second menu item in the context menu based upon the first rank and the second rank. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the first application, a selection of the second menu item in the context menu; and   in response to receiving the selection of the second menu item, invoking, by the first application, the second application.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein:
 identifying the first context menu item provider comprises:
 requesting a rank and first rendering code from the first context menu item provider; and 
 receiving the first rank and the first rendering code from the first context menu item provider; and 
   identifying the second context menu item provider comprises:
 requesting a rank and second rendering code from the second context menu item provider; and 
 receiving the second rank and the second rendering code from the second context menu item provider. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 combining the first rendering code and the second rendering code; and   rendering the combined rendering code, wherein the context menu is produced based upon the rendering of the combined rendering code.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the rendering code is HTML and wherein the rendered HTML code comprises both visual and functional elements. 
     
     
         19 . A computer storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
 receiving an indication that a context menu has been requested with respect to an item displayed in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a computer-executable application;   constructing the context menu based upon the indication, wherein the context menu comprises:
 a first selectable menu item that is representative of a first action that is performable by a search engine; and 
 a second selectable menu item that is representative of a second action that is performable with respect to the displayed item by the computer-executable application, wherein the computer-executable application and the search engine are provided by a first provider and a second provider, respectively; and 
 causing the context menu to be displayed in the GUI of the computer-executable application. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the first action is identifying an instant answer based upon the displayed item.