End-user application customization using rules

Abstract

Rules architecture that facilitates data management of an application such that the application can be personalized by the end-user for the end-user. Included is a customization component that facilitates the exposing of an application generated event to an end-user. A rules component allows the end-user to create one or more rules to process the event, which one or more rules facilitate the submission of application data associated with the event for external and internal processing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application clams the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 567,153 entitled “END-USER APPLICATION CUSTOMIZATION USING RULES”, filed on Apr. 30, 2004, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60 / 567,149 entitled “DERIVED SET—A RULES-BASED QUERY-LIKE MECHANISM THAT DEFINES CONTENTS OF A COLLECTION” filed on Apr. 30, 2004, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 567,165, entitled “RULES FRAMEWORK FOR DEFINITION AND EXECUTION OF END-USER RULES LOGIC”, filed on Apr. 30, 2004. This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. ______ (Atty. Dkt. No. MSFTP668USA) entitled “RULES FRAMEWORK FOR DEFINITION AND EXECUTION OF END-USER RULES LOGIC” filed on Jul. 30, 2004. The entireties of the above-noted applications are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] This invention is related to software that facilitates application customization, and more specificall...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a system that allows users to customize applications for their own use. The system includes a rules component that allows users to create rules that can be associated with different functions of the application. These rules can be used to manage data associated with the application, and the system can also learn from the user's behavior and create new rules accordingly. The system can also expose application data for external processing, and can tightly bind customization rules to the application for greater control. Overall, the invention provides a way for users to personalize applications and have greater control over their data.

Problems solved by technology

In the world of the mainframe, computers were too expensive for all but the largest businesses to afford.

In the 1980's, programmers struggled to build graphical user interface (GUI) applications, and without rich and consistent GUIs, were unable to build valuable applications for PC users.

However, there are still significant barriers to overcome.

Despite owning an amazingly powerful general purpose computer, the average user treats it as a static tool, useful as a communication end-point, useful as a search entry-point, useful to execute some canned mass-market applications, but otherwise incapable of any “personal computing” in the true sense of the word.

However, PCs have done little to relieve the end-user's responsibility to make decisions and act upon them at the right time.

Still software does not help the average PC user in the many everyday, yet important and personal decisions.

Thus, users are still in the “pre-industrial age” of software by being increasingly trapped in the tyranny of manual information processing—spending hours every day sifting, sorting, searching, and reacting to e-mail, documents and other personal data.

However, traditional programming languages are clearly not the answer, in that, the end-user is not (and cannot become) a trained developer.

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