Granted Patent B1

US 8,307,045 · App. 09/682,655 · Granted Nov 6, 2012

Abstract

Claims (51)

1. A method for generating service/device-specific templates, the method comprising:

at a computer communicatively coupled to a storage device and a user interface, an application running on the computer performing a plurality of steps, in the following order:

the application receiving or retrieving unformatted data from the storage device, the unformatted data corresponding to a specific data service and contains no information on formatting the specific data service for presentation;

the application examining the unformatted data for the specific data service to identify name-value pairs which are present in the unformatted data, each name-value pair including a name of a data item and a value of the data item;

the application presenting the name-value pairs identified from the unformatted data for the specific data service to a user via the user interface;

the presenting further comprising:

presenting the user with a label for each of the set of the name-value pairs; and

allowing the user to accept or modify the label via the user interface;

the application retaining a set of the name-value pairs based on user input received via the user interface;

the application selecting, for each of the plurality of devices, individual template building blocks from a master template, the master template does not convert unformatted data into formatted data, the master template containing information defining a style for presentation of different types of data on a plurality of devices, the information being in the master template as a plurality of template building blocks, each of the plurality of template building blocks defining formatting for a single type of name-value pair for presentation on a single device type, and each of the individual template building blocks being selected based on a corresponding type of name-value pair in the set of the name-value pairs; and

the application assembling the individual template building blocks selected from the master template into one or more service/device-specific templates, each of the service/device-specific templates assembled by the application being specific to a corresponding device or a device type and to the specific data service associated with the unformatted data, the one or more service/device-specific templates being necessary to generate formatting for the set of name-value pairs such that data items associated with the specific service are suitable for presentation on the plurality of devices.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

utilizing the service/device-specific templates to create markup language files for corresponding devices.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:

utilizing the markup language files to accommodate the specific data service on the corresponding devices.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the master template defines a predetermined style for displaying data on physical devices.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the master template is one of a plurality of master templates, each defining a different style for displaying data on physical devices.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:

prompting the user to select one of the plurality of master templates according to which the service/device-specific templates are generated.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the service/device-specific templates are generated automatically upon completion of the master template.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the service/device-specific templates are generated as needed to accommodate the specific data service or a new data service.

9. A computer program product having at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions translatable by at least one processor to perform a plurality of steps, in the following order:

examining unformatted data received or retrieved from a storage device to identify name-value pairs which are present in the unformatted data, the unformatted data corresponding to a specific data service and contains no information on formatting the specific data service for presentation;

presenting the name-value pairs identified from the unformatted data for the specific data service to a user via a user interface;

the presenting further comprising:

presenting the user with a label for each of the set of the name-value pairs; and

allowing the user to accept or modify the label via the user interface;

retaining a set of the name-value pairs based on user input received via the user interface;

selecting, for each of the plurality of devices, individual template building blocks from a master template, the master template does not convert unformatted data into formatted data, the master template containing information defining a style for presentation of different types of data on a plurality of devices, the information being in the master template as a plurality of template building blocks, each of the plurality of template building blocks defining formatting for a single type of name-value pair for presentation on a single device type, each of the building blocks being selected based on a corresponding type of name-value pair in the set of the name-value pairs; and

assembling the individual template building blocks selected from the master template into one or more service/device-specific templates, each of the service/device-specific templates being specific to a corresponding device or a device type and to the specific data service associated with the unformatted data, the one or more service/device-specific templates being necessary to generate formatting for the set of name-value pairs such that data items associated with the specific service are suitable for presentation on the plurality of devices.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the master template is one of a plurality of master templates, each defining a different style for displaying data on physical devices, and wherein the instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:

prompting the user to select one of the plurality of master templates according to which the service/device-specific templates are generated.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the service/device-specific templates are generated automatically upon completion of the master template.

12. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the service/device-specific templates are generated as needed to accommodate the specific data service or a new data service.

13. A system for generating service/device-specific templates, comprising:

a user interface;

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions translatable by the at least one processor to execute an application which performs a plurality of steps, in the following order:

the application examining unformatted data for a specific data service received or retrieved from a storage device to identify name-value pairs which are present in the unformatted data, the unformatted data corresponding to a specific data service and contains no information on formatting the specific data service for presentation;

the application presenting the name-value pairs identified from the unformatted data for the specific data service to a user via a user interface;

the presenting further comprising:

presenting the user with a label for each of the set of the name-value pairs; and

allowing the user to accept or modify the label via the user interface;

the application retaining a set of the name-value pairs based on user input received via the user interface;

the application selecting, for each of the plurality of devices, individual template building blocks from a master template, the master template does not convert unformatted data into formatted data, the master template containing information defining a style for presentation of different types of data on a plurality of devices, the information being in the master template as a plurality of template building blocks, each of the plurality of template building blocks defining formatting for a single type of name-value pair for presentation on a single device type, and each of the individual template building blocks being selected based on a corresponding type of name-value pair in the set of the name-value pairs; and

the application assembling the individual template building blocks selected from the master template into one or more service/device-specific templates, each of the service/device-specific templates assembled by the application being specific to a corresponding device or a device type and to the specific data service associated with the unformatted data, the one or more service/device-specific templates being necessary to generate formatting for the set of name-value pairs such that data items associated with the specific service are suitable for presentation on the plurality of devices.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the master template is one of a plurality of master templates, each defining a different style for displaying data on physical devices.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:

prompting the user to select one of the plurality of master templates according to which the service/device-specific templates are generated.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the service/device-specific templates are generated automatically upon completion of the master template.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the service/device-specific templates are generated as needed to accommodate the specific data service or a new data service.

Assignments (11)