Extensible visual effects on active content in user interfaces
Methods and systems for applying visual effects to active content, such as buttons, comboboxes, video, edit fields, etc., wherein interactivity of the active content are retained thereafter. Also, the present disclosure provides a mechanism for developers to build new visual effects and have them applied to active content.
1. A method for transforming coordinates of a hit event, the method comprising:
providing a directed acyclic graph including a first effect and a last effect, an input, and an output, the first effect and the last effect each including a bi-directional transformation function F F (a) and F L (z) respectively, wherein an input of the first effect is coupled to the input of the directed acyclic graph, and wherein an output of the first effect is coupled to an input of the last effect, and wherein an output of the last effect is coupled to the output of the directed acyclic graph;
displaying a visual element on an area of a display;
transforming the visual element by solving the bi-directional transformation function F F (a) for (a=the visual element) resulting in a first-transformed visual element;
transforming the first transformed visual element by solving the bi-directional transformation function F L (z) for (z=the first transformed visual element) resulting in a last-transformed visual element;
displaying the last-transformed visual element instead of the visual element on the display;
receiving the coordinates of the hit event wherein the hit event indicates the displayed last-transformed visual element;
transforming the coordinates by solving the bi-directional transformation function F L (z) for (z=the coordinates) in reverse resulting in last-transformed coordinates;
transforming the last-transformed coordinates by solving the bi-directional transformation function F F (a) for (a=the last-transformed coordinates) resulting in first-transformed coordinates; and
determining that the first-transformed coordinates identify a point in the area, wherein the method is performed by a computing device.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the visual element is a bitmap.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the visual element includes video.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising converting the visual element to a bitmap.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the visual element is animated.
6. At least one computer storage device storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method for transforming coordinates of a hit event, the method comprising:
providing a directed acyclic graph including a first effect and a last effect, an input, and an output, the first effect and the last effect each including a bi-directional transformation function F F (a) and F L (z) respectively, wherein an input of the first effect is coupled to the input of the directed acyclic graph, and wherein an output of the first effect is coupled to an input of the last effect, and wherein an output of the last effect is coupled to the output of the directed acyclic graph;
displaying a visual element on an area of a display;
transforming the visual element by solving the bi-directional transformation function F F (a) for (a—the visual element) resulting in a first-transformed visual element;
transforming the first transformed visual element by solving the bi-directional transformation function F L (z) for (z—the first transformed visual element) resulting in a last-transformed visual element;
displaying the last-transformed visual element instead of the visual element on the display;
receiving the coordinates of the hit event wherein the hit event indicates the displayed last-transformed visual element;
transforming the coordinates by solving the bi-directional transformation function F L (z) for (z—the coordinates) in reverse resulting in last-transformed coordinates;
transforming the last-transformed coordinates by solving the bi-directional transformation function F F (a) for (a—the last-transformed coordinates) resulting in first-transformed coordinates; and
determining that the first-transformed coordinates identify a point in the area, wherein the method is performed by a computing device.
7. The at least one computer storage device of claim 6 wherein the visual element is a bitmap.
8. The at least one computer storage device of claim 6 wherein the visual element includes video.
9. The at least one computer storage device of claim 6 wherein the visual element is animated.
10. A system for transforming coordinates of a hit event, the system comprising:
a computing device including a display;
an effect object including an input and an output, the effect object further including a first effect and a last effect each including a bi-directional transformation function F F (a) and F L (z) respectively, wherein an input of the first effect is coupled to the input of the effect object, and wherein an output of the first effect is coupled to an input of the last effect, and wherein an output of the last effect is coupled to the output of the effect object;
the computing device configured to display a visual element on an area of the display;
the first effect configured to transform the visual element using the bi-directional transformation function F F (a) for (a=the visual element) resulting in a first-transformed visual element;
the last effect configured to transform the first transformed visual element using the bi-directional transformation function F L (z) for (z=the first transformed visual element) resulting in a last-transformed visual element;
the computing device further configured to display the last-transformed visual element instead of the visual element on the display;
the computing device further configured to receive the coordinates of the hit event wherein the hit event indicates the displayed last-transformed visual element;
the last effect further configured to transform the coordinates by solving the bi-directional transformation function F L (z) for (z=the coordinates) in reverse resulting in last-transformed coordinates;
the first effect further configured the last-transformed coordinates by solving the bi-directional transformation function F F (a) for (a=the last-transformed coordinates) resulting in first-transformed coordinates; and
the computing device further configured to determine that the first-transformed coordinates identify a point in the area.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the visual element is a bitmap.
12. The system of claim 10 wherein the visual element is animated.
13. The system of claim 10 wherein the visual element includes video.