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View Patent ↗A method of generating a user interface for an application includes storing a profile for a user of the application, where the profile contains information that relates to a function of the user in an organization and personal information for the user, selecting elements to include in the user interface based on the profile, and building the user interface using the elements.
1. A method of generating a user interface for an application, comprising:
storing a profile for a user of the application, the profile containing information that relates to a function of the user in an organization and personal information for the user;
selecting elements to include in the user interface based on the profile and a current date;
dynamically updating the selected elements to include in the user interface based on an update to the profile and the current date; and
building the user interface using the selected elements.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected elements relate to services available to the user.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function comprises a role of the user; and wherein the elements that are selected correspond to the role.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the application comprises a self-services application, and the role comprises one of an employee and a manager.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the elements are selected based on at least one factor in addition to the profile and the current date.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one factor comprises business data relating to the user.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication of an event associated with the user interface;
obtaining a visual component for the user interface based on the event; and
building a subsequent user interface using the visual component.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein obtaining the visual component comprises:
obtaining an identity of the visual component from a configuration file associated with the user interface; and
retrieving the visual component; and wherein building the subsequent user interlace comprises instantiating the visual component along with any components associated with the selected elements.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the event comprises an input to the user interface, the event comprising at least one of navigation from a previous user interface and an action that affects display of a selected component.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more hyperlinked Web pages.
11. A tangible computer-readable storage device storing program instructions that generate a user interface for an application according to a method, the method comprising:
storing a profile for a user of the application, the profile containing information that relates to a function of the user in an organization and personal information for the user;
selecting elements to include in the user interface based on the profile and a current date;
dynamically updating the selected elements to include in the user interface based on an update to the profile and the current date; and
building the user interface using the selected elements.
12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the selected elements relate to services available to the user.
13. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the function comprises a role of the user; and wherein the elements that are selected correspond to the role.
14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the application comprises a self-services application, and the role comprises one of an employee and a manager.
15. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the elements are selected based on at least one factor in addition to the profile and the current date.
16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the at least one factor comprises business data relating to the user.
17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11 , the method further comprising:
receiving an indication of an event associated with the user interface;
obtaining a visual component for the user interface based on the event; and
building a subsequent user interface using the visual component.
18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein obtaining the visual component comprises:
obtaining an identity of the visual component from a configuration file associated with the user interface; and retrieving the visual component; and
wherein building the subsequent user interface comprises instantiating the visual component along with any components associated with the selected elements.
19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein the event comprises an input to the user interface, the event comprising at least one of navigation from a previous user interface and an action that affects display of a selected component.
20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more hyperlinked Web pages.
21. A tangible computer-readable storage device storing program instructions that generate a user interface for an application according to a method, the method comprising:
storing a profile for a user of the application, the profile containing information that relates to a function of the user in an organization and personal information for the user;
defining visual components for the application, the visual components comprising objects and data needed to generate the user interface;
defining an invisible component for the application, the invisible component defining a navigation path to the user interface, the invisible component having access to a configuration file that identifies the visual components, the configuration file being based on the profile of the user and a current date;
obtaining, in response to an event, a layout of the user interface from the configuration file via the invisible component, the layout comprising the visual components;
dynamically updating the visual components to include in the user interface based on an update to the profile and the current date; and
building the user interface using the visual components.
22. The method of claim 1 , wherein, based on the current date, the selected elements include at least one of benefits enrollment services information and tax-related information.
23. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein, based on the current date, the selected elements include at least one of benefits enrollment services information and tax-related information.
24. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein, based on the current date, the selected elements include at least one of benefits enrollment services information and tax-related information.