Language for binding scalable vector graphics elements to java classes
View Patent ↗According to a technique described herein, a binding document comprises one or more “<bind>” element instances. Each “<bind>” element instance indicates an association between (a) an SVG element instance and (b) a class. When a binding's name is passed to a “createFromTemplate( )” method, the method processes all of the “<bind>” element instances that are associated within that name. For each such “<bind>” element instance, the method (a) creates, in an SVG DOM tree, a clone of a node that corresponds to an SVG element instance indicated in that “<bind>” element instance, (b) instantiates an object that is an instance of a class that is indicated in that “<bind>” element instance, and (c) stores data that establishes a binding between the clone node and the object. Methods of the object can be invoked to affect and/or alter attributes of the clone node to which the object is bound.
1. A machine-implemented method for binding program-defined objects to Document Object Model (DOM) nodes, the method comprising:
receiving a request to create a scalable vector graphics (SVG) element instance from an SVG element template, wherein the request comprises a binding name, and wherein the SVG element instance comprises an extensible markup language (XML) code for describing two-dimensional graphics;
selecting, from a binding document, the SVG element template using the binding name, wherein the binding document comprises an association between the SVG element template, a node in a SVG DOM tree, and a software object class, wherein the association is written in XML;
obtaining, from the binding document, a software object class identifier, wherein the software object class identifier indicates the software object class associated with the SVG element template;
obtaining, from the binding document, a node reference indicating the node in the SVG DOM tree associated with the SVG element template;
selecting, in the SVG DOM tree, the node that corresponds to the SVG element template using the node reference;
creating, in the SVG DOM tree, a clone of the selected node for the SVG element instance;
instantiating, in response to the creating, a software object instance of the software object class; and
storing data that indicates a binding between the software object instance and the clone.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binding document comprises one or more binding expressions that are expressed as XML elements.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said creating of the clone causes a display to show a shape that corresponds to the clone.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
invoking, in response to said instantiating, a particular method of the software object class that alters one or more attributes of the clone,
wherein, when the one or more attributes are altered, a display that shows a shape that corresponds to the clone is automatically updated to reflect alterations in the one or more attributes.
5. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the request to create the SVG element instance is an invocation of a creation method, and
wherein the binding name is passed as a parameter of the creation method.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein selecting the SVG element template from the binding document comprises:
locating, in the binding document, a “template” element instance whose “id” attribute value matches the binding name; and
locating, in the binding document, a “bind” element instance that is enclosed within the “template” element instance.
7. The method of claim 6 ,
wherein obtaining the node reference comprises:
reading an attribute value of an “svg-ref” attribute of the “bind” element instance; and
locating, in an SVG document, an SVG element instance whose “id” attribute value matches the attribute value of the “svg-ref” attribute.
8. The method of claim 6 ,
wherein obtaining the software object class identifier comprises:
reading an attribute value of a “class” attribute of the “bind” element instance;
wherein instantiating the software object instance comprises instantiating the software object instance from a JAVA class whose class name matches the attribute value of the “class” attribute.
9. The method of claim 6 ,
wherein selecting obtaining the node reference comprises:
reading an attribute value of an “svg-ref” attribute of the “bind” element instance; and
locating, in an SVG document, an SVG element instance whose “id” attribute value matches the attribute value of said “svg-ref” attribute;
wherein obtaining the software object class identifier comprises:
reading an attribute value of a “class” attribute of the “bind” element instance; and
wherein instantiating the software object instance comprises instantiating the software object instance from a JAVA class whose class name matches the attribute value of the “class” attribute.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binding document indicates at least one binding between (a) another binding defined in the binding document and (b) an invocable method of a JAVA class.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
reading an updated version of the binding document in which one or more attributes have been added to a “<bind>” element in the binding document; and
invoking a “setBindingAttributes( )” method of the object, wherein invoking the “setBindingAttributes( )” method includes passing, as a parameter to the “setBindingAttributes( )” method, a “Binding” instance that can be queried to return attributes in the “<bind>” element.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
overriding the “setBindingAttributes( )” method to process customized attribute extensions.
13. A non-transitory machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out steps comprising:
receiving a request to create a scalable vector graphics (SVG) element instance from an SVG element template, wherein the request comprises a binding name, and wherein the SVG element instance comprises an extensible markup language (XML) code for describing two-dimensional graphics;
selecting, from a binding document, the SVG element template using the binding name, wherein the binding document comprises an association between the SVG element template, a node in a SVG DOM tree, and a software object class, wherein the association is written in XML;
obtaining, from the binding document, a software object class identifier associated with the SVG element template, wherein the software object class identifier indicates a software object class;
obtaining, from the binding document, a node reference indicating the node in the SVG DOM tree associated with the SVG element template;
selecting, in the SVG DOM tree, the node that corresponds to the SVG element template using the node reference;
creating, in the SVG DOM tree, a clone of the selected node for the SVG element;
instantiating, in response to the creating, a software object instance of the software object class; and
storing data that indicates a binding between the software object instance and the clone.
14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the binding document comprises one or more binding expressions that are expressed as XML elements.
15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said creating of the clone causes a display to show a shape that corresponds to the clone.
16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said steps further comprise:
invoking, in response to said instantiating, a particular method of the software object class that alters one or more attributes of the clone,
wherein, when the one or more attributes are altered, a display that shows a shape that corresponds to the clone is automatically updated to reflect alterations in the one or more attributes.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 ,
wherein the request to create the SVG element instance is an invocation of a creation method, and
wherein the binding name is passed as a parameter of the creation method.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein selecting the SVG element template from the binding document comprises:
locating, in the binding document, a “template” element instance whose “id” attribute value matches the binding name; and
locating, in the binding document, a “bind” element instance that is enclosed within the “template” element instance.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 ,
wherein obtaining the node reference comprises:
reading an attribute value of an “svg-ref” attribute of the “bind” element instance; and
locating, in an SVG document, an SVG element instance whose “id” attribute value matches the attribute value of the “svg-ref” attribute.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 ,
wherein obtaining the software object class identifier comprises:
reading an attribute value of a “class” attribute of the “bind” element instance;
wherein instantiating the software object instance comprises instantiating the software object instance from a JAVA class whose class name matches the attribute value of the “class” attribute.
21. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 ,
wherein obtaining the node reference comprises:
reading an attribute value of an “svg-ref” attribute of the “bind” element instance; and
locating, in an SVG document, an SVG element instance whose “id” attribute value matches the attribute value of said “svg-ref” attribute;
wherein obtaining the software object class identifier comprises:
reading an attribute value of a “class” attribute of the “bind” element instance; and
wherein instantiating the software object instance comprises instantiating the software object instance from a JAVA class whose class name matches the attribute value of the “class” attribute.
22. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the binding document indicates at least one binding between (a) another binding defined in the binding document and (b) an invocable method of a JAVA class.
23. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said steps further comprise:
reading an updated version of the binding document in which one or more attributes have been added to a “<bind>” element in the binding document; and
invoking a “setBindingAttributes( )” method of the object, wherein invoking the “setBindingAttributes( )” method includes passing, as a parameter to the “setBindingAttributes( )” method, a “Binding” instance that can be queried to return attributes in the “<bind>” element.
24. the machine-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein said steps further comrpise: overriding the “setBinding attributes( )” method to process customized attribute extension.