Granted Patent B2

US 12,730,861 · App. 18/423,225 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Maxwell S. Andrews (Kennett Square, PA); Robert C. Hernandez (Morrisville, NC)

Assignee: Dell Products L.P.

G06F21/105H04L67/10

Abstract

Claims (61)

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving, by an information handling system, a request from a user to perform an action;

determining, by the information handling system, a list of one or more software functions, configured to at least partially perform the action, of a plurality of cloud computing platforms using an application programming interface (API) configured to integrate with each of the plurality of cloud computing platforms;

retrieving, by the information handling system, from the plurality of cloud computing platforms, using the API, one or more licensing term options associated with each of the one or more software functions, wherein each of the one or more licensing term options pertains to a use of an associated software function to at least partially perform the action;

receiving, by the information handling system from the user, target content on which the action is to be at least partially performed;

transmitting, by the information handling system to the user, one or more previews of outputs resulting from each of the one or more software functions at least partially performing the action;

receiving, by the information handling system from the user, a first selection of at least one selected software function from the list of the one or more software functions and a second selection of a selected licensing term option from the one or more licensing term options associated with the at least one selected software function;

receiving, by the information handling system from the user, payment details in accordance with the second selection; and

causing, by the information handling system, the action to be at least partially performed by the at least one selected software function using the API in response to receiving the first selection and the payment details,

wherein:

transmitting the one or more previews includes generating, by the information handling system, each of the one or more previews, prior to receiving the first selection and the payment details, by causing, using the API, the action to be at least partially performed on a reduced resolution version of the target content by each of the one or more software functions in a virtual environment; and

causing the action includes causing the action to be at least partially performed on a full resolution version of the target content by the at least one selected software function using the API in response to receiving the first selection and the payment details.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying, by the information handling system, a list of one or more potential actions and wherein receiving the request to perform the action comprises receiving, from the user, a selection of the action from the list of the one or more potential actions.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, by the information handling system from the user, a natural language description of a desired action;

determining, by the information handling system using an inference engine, one or more probable actions each having a probability of matching the desired action that surpasses a probability threshold; and

generating, by the information handling system, the list of the one or more potential actions such that the one or more potential actions comprise the one or more probable actions.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the list of the one or more software functions is curated based on at least one known preference of the user for a preferred software function publisher, a history of software functions selected by the user, or a combination thereof.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises a natural language description of a software design pattern, and wherein the one or more previews, comprising code-implementation examples of the software design pattern having imposed utility limitations, are retrieved from the plurality of cloud computing platforms using the API.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target content comprises a digital image, and wherein the action comprises applying a visual effect filter to the digital image.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target content comprises a digital document, and wherein the action comprises applying an electronic signature to the digital document.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more previews is configured to update dynamically in response to one or more tuning inputs received from the user.

9 . An information handling system, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform the steps comprising:

receiving a request from a user to perform an action;

determining a list of one or more software functions, configured to at least partially perform the action, of a plurality of cloud computing platforms using an application programming interface (API) configured to integrate with each of the plurality of cloud computing platforms;

retrieving from the plurality of cloud computing platforms, using the API, one or more licensing term options associated with each of the one or more software functions, wherein each of the one or more licensing term options pertains to a use of an associated software function to at least partially perform the action;

receiving, from the user, target content on which the action is to be at least partially performed;

transmitting one or more previews of outputs resulting from each of the one or more software functions at least partially performing the action;

receiving, from the user, a first selection of at least one selected software function from the list of the one or more software functions and a second selection of a selected licensing term option from the one or more licensing term options associated with the at least one selected software function;

receiving, from the user, payment details in accordance with the second selection; and

causing the action to be at least partially performed by the at least one selected software function using the API in response to receiving the first selection and the payment details,

wherein:

transmitting the one or more previews includes generating each of the one or more previews, prior to receiving the first selection and the payment details, by causing, using the API, the action to be at least partially performed on a reduced resolution version of the target content by each of the one or more software functions in a virtual environment; and

causing the action includes causing the action to be at least partially performed on a full resolution version of the target content by the at least one selected software function using the API.

10 . The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to display a list of one or more potential actions and wherein receiving the request to perform the action comprises receiving, from the user, a selection of the action from the list of the one or more potential actions.

11 . The information handling system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform steps comprising:

receiving, from the user, a natural language description of a desired action;

determining, using an inference engine, one or more probable actions each having a probability of matching the desired action that surpasses a probability threshold; and

generating the list of the one or more potential actions such that the one or more potential actions comprise the one or more probable actions.

12 . The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein the list of the one or more software functions is curated based on at least one known preference of the user for a preferred software function publisher, a history of software functions selected by the user, or a combination thereof.

13 . The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein the action comprises a natural language description of a software design pattern, and wherein the one or more previews, comprising code-implementation examples of the software design pattern having imposed utility limitations, are retrieved from the plurality of cloud computing platforms using the API.

14 . A computer product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions to perform steps comprising:

receiving a request from a user to perform an action;

determining a list of one or more software functions, configured to at least partially perform the action, of a plurality of cloud computing platforms using an application programming interface (API) configured to integrate with each of the plurality of cloud computing platforms;

retrieving from the plurality of cloud computing platforms, using the API, one or more licensing term options associated with each of the one or more software functions, wherein each of the one or more licensing term options pertains to a use of an associated software function to at least partially perform the action;

receiving, from the user, target content on which the action is to be at least partially performed;

transmitting one or more previews of outputs resulting from each of the one or more software functions at least partially performing the action;

receiving, from the user, a first selection of at least one selected software function from the list of the one or more software functions and a second selection of a selected licensing term option from the one or more licensing term options associated with the at least one selected software function; receiving, from the user, payment details in accordance with the second selection; and

causing the action to be at least partially performed by the at least one selected software function using the API in response to receiving the first selection and the payment details,

wherein:

transmitting the one or more previews includes generating each of the one or more previews, prior to receiving the first selection and the payment details, by causing, using the API, the action to be at least partially performed on a reduced resolution version of the target content by each of the one or more software functions in a virtual environment; and

causing the action includes causing the action to be at least partially performed on a full resolution version of the target content by the at least one selected software function using the API in response to receiving the first selection and the payment details.

15 . The computer product of claim 14 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions to perform steps comprising:

receiving, from the user, a natural language description of a desired action;

determining, using an inference engine, one or more probable actions each having a probability of matching the desired action that surpasses a probability threshold; and

generating a list of the one or more probable actions wherein receiving the request to perform the action comprises receiving, from the user, a selection of the action from the list of the one or more probable actions.

16 . The computer product of claim 14 , wherein the list of the one or more software functions is curated based on at least one known preference of the user for a preferred software function publisher, a history of software functions selected by the user, or a combination thereof.

17 . The computer product of claim 14 , wherein the action comprises a natural language description of a software design pattern, and wherein the one or more previews, comprising code-implementation examples of the software design pattern having imposed utility limitations, are retrieved from the plurality of cloud computing platforms using the API.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (40)