Method and apparatus for managing tool in application, and device and medium

Abstract

Provided are a method and apparatus for managing a tool in an application, and a device and a medium. The method comprises: in response to having received a creation request for creating a tool in an application, presenting a creation page, wherein the tool is used for executing a predetermined task, and the creation page comprises: a first region used for specifying the description of the predetermined task represented in a natural language, and a second region used for specifying a visual representation corresponding to the tool; in response to having received an interaction request for the creation page, creating the tool on the basis of the description of the predetermined task and the visual representation which are specified by the interaction request; and presenting, in the application, the visual representation corresponding to the tool. By using the example implementations of the present disclosure, a custom tool can be added to an application, thereby supporting a user to invoke the tool to execute a desired task in a simpler and more effective manner.

Description

Methods, apparatuses, devices, and media for managing tools in an application TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Exemplary implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of computers, and particularly relate to methods, apparatuses, devices, and computer-readable storage media for managing tools in an application. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of computer technology, a variety of applications implementing different functions have been developed. An application can provide different tools to perform various predetermined tasks. However, the tools are pre-set during the development of the application and cannot be modified by the user during use. At this time, it is desirable to manage the tools in the application in a more flexible and efficient manner.

[0003] SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for managing tools in an application is provided. In the method, in response to receiving a creation request for creating a tool in the application, a creation page is presented, the tool is for performing a predetermined task, and the creation page includes: a first area for specifying a description of the predetermined task in a natural language representation; and a second area for specifying a visual representation corresponding to the tool. In response to receiving an interaction request for the creation page, the tool is created based on the description and the visual representation of the predetermined task specified by the interaction request. The visual representation corresponding to the tool is presented in the application.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for managing tools in an application is provided. The apparatus includes a page presentation module, a creation module, and a tool presentation module. The page presentation module is configured to present a creation page in response to receiving a creation request for creating a tool in the application, the tool is for performing a predetermined task, and the creation page includes: a first area for specifying a description of the predetermined task in a natural language representation; and a second area for specifying a visual representation corresponding to the tool. The creation module is configured to create the tool based on the description and the visual representation of the predetermined task specified by the interaction request in response to receiving an interaction request for the creation page. The tool presentation module is configured to present the visual representation corresponding to the tool in the application.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes at least one processing unit and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processing unit and storing instructions for execution by the at least one processing unit, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processing unit, cause the electronic device to perform the method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided, having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement the method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0009] It is to be understood that the particulars shown herein are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the various embodiments of the present disclosure only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to the particular embodiment illustrated. Other BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0010] In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0011] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an application environment, according to one example implementation of the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a method for managing tools in an application, according to some implementations of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a creation page, according to some implementations of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of presenting tools in an application, according to some implementations of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of presenting tools in an application, according to some implementations of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a settings page, according to some implementations of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method for managing tools in an application, according to some implementations of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for managing tools in an application, according to some implementations of the present disclosure; and

[0019] FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a device capable of implementing various implementations of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Implementations of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. While several implementations of the present disclosure are described, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be embodied in many other forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein; rather, these implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that the drawings and implementations described are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0021] In the description of implementations of the present disclosure, the term "includes" and its derivatives mean "including but not limited to". The term "based on" means "based at least in part on". The term "one implementation" or "the implementation" means "at least one implementation". The term "some implementations" means "at least some implementations". Other explicit or implicit definitions can also be included below. As used herein, the term "model" can represent the relationship between various data. For example, the above-mentioned relationship can be obtained based on various technical solutions known at present and / or to be developed in the future.

[0022] It can be understood that the data involved in the technical solutions of the present disclosure (including but not limited to the data itself, the acquisition or use of the data) should comply with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations and relevant provisions.

[0023] It can be understood that before using the technical solutions disclosed by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the type, use range, use scenario, etc. of the personal information involved in the present disclosure should be informed to the user and the authorization of the user should be obtained through appropriate means according to relevant laws and regulations.

[0024] For example, in response to receiving the active request of the user, the user is sent prompt information to explicitly prompt the user that the operation requested to be executed will require the acquisition and use of the personal information of the user. Thus, the user can voluntarily choose whether to provide personal information to the software or hardware such as electronic device, application program, server or storage medium, etc. that executes the operation of the technical solutions of the present disclosure according to the prompt information.

[0025] As an optional but non-limiting implementation, in response to receiving the active request of the user, the way of sending prompt information to the user, for example, can be the way of pop-up window, and the prompt information can be presented in the form of text in the pop-up window. In addition, the pop-up window can also carry selection controls for the user to select "agree" or "disagree" to provide personal information to the electronic device.

[0026] It can be understood that the above notification and user authorization process is only illustrative and does not limit the implementations of the present disclosure, and other ways that meet the relevant laws and regulations can also be applied to the implementations of the present disclosure.

[0027] The term "in response to" as used herein refers to a state in which a corresponding event occurs or a condition is satisfied. It will be understood that the timing of the execution of a subsequent action in response to the event or condition is not necessarily strongly correlated with the time at which the event occurs or the condition is established. For example, in some cases, the subsequent action can be executed immediately upon the occurrence of the event or the establishment of the condition; in other cases, the subsequent action can be executed after a period of time has elapsed since the occurrence of the event or the establishment of the condition.

[0028] Example Environment

[0029] An application can provide different tools to perform various predetermined tasks. However, the tools are set during the development of the application and cannot be modified by the user during use. With the development of machine learning model technology, a user can create a prompt and input the prompt to a machine learning model in order to perform a desired task. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram 100 of an application environment according to one example implementation of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 1, in an application 110 implemented based on a machine learning model, a user can input a prompt in an input box 140, for example, the user can input "city A travel" and submit the prompt to the machine learning model. At this time, the machine learning model can generate a response based on the prompt 120.

[0030] However, the user needs to manually input the prompt in order to perform the desired task. At this time, it is desirable to create a tool in the application to perform a specific task so that the user can directly invoke the tool to perform the specific task in the subsequent use of the application.

[0031] Overview of Tool Management

[0032] To at least partially address the deficiencies in the prior art, according to one example implementation of the present disclosure, a method for managing tools in an application is proposed. In general, a tool can be created in an application, and a user can specify the tasks that the tool can perform and the visual representation of the tool (e.g., a control, etc.). Referring to FIG. 2, an overview according to one example implementation of the present disclosure is described, which shows a block diagram 200 for managing tools in an application according to some implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, in response to receiving a creation request for creating a tool in an application 210 (e.g., a click operation on a control 228, etc.), a creation page 230 can be presented in the application 210 in order to create a tool for performing a predetermined task. In this way, it is possible to support a user to create personalized tools in the application 210 according to their own needs.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2, the creation page 230 can include a first area 240 for specifying a description of a predetermined task expressed in natural language, and a second area 242 for specifying a visual representation corresponding to the tool. Specifically, the description can be a prompt word for invoking a processing system to perform the predetermined task. Here, the processing system can include a first subsystem implemented based on a search engine, and / or a second subsystem implemented based on a machine learning model. One or more subsystems can be invoked based on the specific content of the prompt word, and in turn perform the corresponding task. Here, the visual representation of the tool (e.g., a label or an icon) can be specified in the second area 242, e.g., text can be entered or an image can be selected in the second area 242 to specify the visual representation.

[0034] Further, in response to receiving the interaction request for the creation page, a tool (e.g., tool 232) can be created based on the description and the visual representation of the predetermined task specified by the interaction request, and a visual representation corresponding to the tool can be presented in the application. In other words, the visual representation of the created tool will be displayed in the application for the user to use. As shown in FIG. 2, the user can click on the control 228 to create one or more tools. The created tools can be added to the tool set 220, e.g., tool 222 can be for processing images, tool 224 can be for translating text, and tool 226 can be for generating summaries, etc. In this way, custom tools can be added to the application to support the user invoking the tool to perform a desired task in a more simple and efficient manner.

[0035] Detailed procedure of tool management

[0036] Having described an overview of some implementations according to the present disclosure, in the following, more details of some implementations according to the present disclosure will be described. According to some implementations of the present disclosure, in response to receiving an invocation request for a visual representation, a description can be sent to a processing system for performing a predetermined task, and a processing result for the invocation request can be provided based on a response for the description from the processing system. With continued reference to FIG. 2, in response to receiving an invocation request (e.g., a click operation) for the tool 232, results of searching music can be presented in the application 210, e.g., links for accessing one or more pieces of music, and / or the found music can be played by the application 210, etc. It should be understood that the various tools in the tool set 220 are merely illustrative, and alternatively and / or additionally, the tool set 220 can include more, fewer, or different tools.

[0037] It should be appreciated that the predetermined task can involve various scenarios. For example, for a task of searching music, querying weather of city A, etc., such a task does not involve a data object to be processed. For example, for a translation task, an image processing task, etc., the data object to be processed needs to be specified, in which case the creation page can further include more setting areas. According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the creation page can further include a third area for specifying a data source of at least one data object to be processed by the predetermined task.

[0038] More details are described with reference to FIG. 3, which shows a block diagram 300 of a creation page according to some implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the creation page 310 can include a third area 320 for specifying a data source of at least one data object to be processed by the predetermined task. Assuming that the prompt word specifies a translation task of "English to Chinese", a drop-down list can be provided in the third area 320 so as to specify the data source of the text to be translated. The data source can include at least any of the following: data accessed in the application, data selected in the application, and data submitted to the application. For example, option 322 can specify to translate "currently selected data", option 324 can specify to translate "currently accessed data", and option 326 can specify to translate "uploaded data", etc.

[0039] Specifically, the data accessed in the application can be taken as a default data object to be processed, e.g., the user is browsing a certain webpage, and clicks the "translate" tool 222, at which time the webpage can be translated into the specified language. Assuming that the user selects a certain part in the webpage, the part can be translated into the specified language. For example, after clicking the "translate" tool 222, a predetermined page can be presented, and the user can upload the data object to be processed, e.g., a file to be translated, to a specified position of the predetermined page.

[0040] If the user selects the option 322 in the creation page 310, at which time the data source to be processed is "currently selected data", more details are described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows a block diagram 400 of presenting tools in an application according to some implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the tool set 220 can be presented in the application 410 in a floating manner. Here, the user can drag the tool set 220 and present it at a desired position. Alternatively and / or additionally, the tool set can not be presented in an initial stage, and one or more tools for processing a specific data object can be presented in response to determining that the user selects the specific data object.

[0041] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, a type of the data object accessed in the application can be acquired; and in response to determining that the type of the data object matches the predetermined task, a visual representation is presented in the application. Specifically, assume that a user accesses a certain webpage in the application 410 and selects the text 420, a toolset can be presented in a position near the selected text. Here, the toolset can only include one or more tools capable of processing the data of the text type, such as a translation tool, a tool for generating a summary, and the like. For another example, assume that the user selects the image 422, a toolset can be presented in a position near the selected image. Here, the toolset can only include one or more tools capable of processing the data of the image type, such as an image processing tool, and the like. With the example implementations of the present disclosure, the user can be provided with tools that can be invoked, thereby simplifying the user operation.

[0042] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, in response to receiving an invocation request for the visual representation, a description can be sent to the processing system. Specifically, at least one data object can be acquired based on the data source, and the description and the corresponding data to be processed are sent to the processing system. For example, the selected text 420 and the prompt word "English to Chinese" can be sent to the processing system, so as to invoke the processing system to return the Chinese translation of the text 420. In this way, the powerful processing capability of the remote processing system can be invoked to perform the desired task without modifying the code of the application.

[0043] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the acquired type of the data object can be compared in advance to determine whether it matches the predetermined task, i.e., whether the data object can be used as the input data of the predetermined task. In response to determining that the type of the at least one data object matches the predetermined task, the description can be sent to the processing system. In the above example, since the "English to Chinese" task can process the selected text 420, the type of the data object matches the predetermined task at this time, and the prompt word "English to Chinese" and the selected text 420 can be sent to the processing system. For another example, assume that the image 422 is currently selected and the image includes text, the prompt word "English to Chinese" and the selected image 422 can still be sent to the processing system. At this time, the processing system will return the Chinese translation of the text in the image 422.

[0044] Alternatively and / or additionally, according to some implementations of the present disclosure, in response to determining that the type of the at least one data object does not match the predetermined task, a notification is provided in the application to instruct the user to re-specify the at least one data object. Continuing to refer to FIG. 4, assume that the current selected text 420 and the user clicks on the tool 222 to perform an image processing task. At this time, since the image processing task cannot process text, a notification can be provided in the application 410 to inform the user to re-select an image to be processed. In this way, it can be ensured that the processing system can perform the specified task, thereby avoiding a large number of unexecutable tasks being sent to the processing system, thus increasing the workload of the processing system.

[0045] Although the above illustrates the case where the predetermined task involves one data object, alternatively and / or additionally, the predetermined task can involve multiple data objects. For example, the prompt word can include: "merge two documents", then the user can upload two documents to be merged into the specified area, and the processing system will return the merged document.

[0046] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, creating the page further includes a fourth region for specifying a presentation attribute of the visual representation, the presentation attribute including at least any one of: a mode, a position, and a state of the visual representation; and wherein presenting the visual representation in the application includes presenting the visual representation according to the presentation attribute. Returning to FIG. 3 for more details, the creating page 310 can further include a fourth region 330, and the fourth region 330 can include input regions 322, 324 and 326.

[0047] Specifically, the input region 322 can be used to specify the mode of the visual representation, which can include, for example, a "float" mode and a "sidebar" mode. The "float" mode can display the tools in a float layer in the manner as shown in FIG. 4. The "sidebar" mode can specify that the tools are presented in a fixed side region in the application. The input region 324 can specify the position of the visual representation, for example, a position number or a coordinate of the visual representation in the tool set, etc. The input region 324 can specify the state of the visual representation, for example, whether to display the visual representation in the tool set ("on" can represent display, and "off" can represent non-display).

[0048] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the application can include a web application, and the above-described method can be implemented with a plug-in of a browser used to access the web application. Specifically, the web application can be accessed (i.e., the address of the web application is accessed) in the browser application, and then a creation page for creating a tool is presented in the web application. The above-described functions can be implemented in the plug-in of the browser, in this way, when different web applications are accessed with the browser, the functions defined in the plug-in of the browser can be invoked to customize the tools in different web applications. According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the activation state of the plug-in of the browser can be set. For example, the technical solutions of the present disclosure can only be executed when the plug-in of the browser is activated. When the plug-in of the browser is not activated, the browser can operate in a conventional manner.

[0049] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram 500 of presenting a tool in an application according to some implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, an interaction page for invoking a processing system can be integrated in a plug-in of a browser. At this time, the display area of the application 510 can be divided into two parts, a main page 520 and a sidebar 522. The main page 520 is used to display the interaction page of the application 510, and the sidebar 522 is used to display the interaction page between the user and the processing system.

[0050] At this time, a tool set 530 and an input area 532 can be presented in the sidebar 522. The user can click on each tool in the tool set 530 to perform the desired task. Alternatively and / or additionally, the user can input a prompt word in the input area 532, and then invoke the capability of the processing system to perform the corresponding task. In this way, the tool set can be presented at a fixed position, thereby facilitating the user to access.

[0051] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the user can add tools to the tool set based on the above-described manner. A storage area for storing user-defined tools can be set in the plug-in of the browser. At this time, in response to receiving an addition request, the tool can be added to the plug-in. In this way, the user can continuously add the plug-in for specifying a certain function during use.

[0052] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, a settings page for each tool in the toolset can be provided, e.g., in response to detecting an interaction request for a settings control (e.g., control 430 in FIG. 4, and control 540 in FIG. 5), the settings page can be presented. More details are described with reference to FIG. 6. This figure 6 illustrates a block diagram 600 of a settings page, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the settings page 610 can provide the related parameters for each tool that has been added by the user, and the user can add a new tool, delete an existing tool, or modify the label, prompt, mode, position, and status of an existing tool, etc. in the settings page. With example implementations of the present disclosure, it can be convenient for the user to have a comprehensive understanding of the various tools supported by the plug-ins of the current browser.

[0053] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, for another web application accessed with the browser, a set of tools from the plurality of tools is determined that matches a type of the other web application; and the set of tools is presented in the other web application. Assuming that the user is accessing a web application for text editing, a text processing toolset can be presented, and the toolset can include one or more tools for processing text, e.g., a translation tool, a summary generation tool, etc. For another example, assuming that the user is accessing a web application for image editing, an image processing toolset can be presented, and the toolset can include one or more tools for processing text, e.g., an image style conversion tool, an image color conversion tool, etc. In this way, it can be convenient to share user customized tools between different types of web applications.

[0054] With example implementations of the present disclosure, a customized tool can be added to an application, thereby supporting the user to invoke the tool to perform a desired task in a more simple and effective way.

[0055] Example process

[0056] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method 700 for managing tools in an application, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. At block 710, in response to receiving a creation request for creating a tool in the application, a creation page is presented, the tool is for performing a predetermined task, and the creation page includes: a first area for specifying a description of the predetermined task in a natural language; and a second area for specifying a visual representation corresponding to the tool. At block 720, in response to receiving an interaction request for the creation page, the tool is created based on the description and the visual representation of the predetermined task specified by the interaction request. At block 730, the visual representation corresponding to the tool is presented in the application.

[0057] According to some implementations of the disclosure, the method further includes: in response to receiving the invocation request for the visual representation, sending the description to the processing system for performing the predetermined task; and based on a response to the description from the processing system, providing a processing result for the invocation request.

[0058] According to some implementations of the disclosure, creating the page further includes a third area for specifying a data source of the at least one data object to be processed by the predetermined task, the data source including at least any of: data accessed in the application, data selected in the application, and data submitted to the application.

[0059] According to some implementations of the disclosure, sending the description to the processing system includes: based on the data source, obtaining the at least one data object; and in response to determining that a type of the at least one data object matches the predetermined task, sending the description to the processing system.

[0060] According to some implementations of the disclosure, the method further includes: in response to determining that the type of the at least one data object does not match the predetermined task, providing a notification in the application for instructing a user to re-specify the at least one data object.

[0061] According to some implementations of the disclosure, presenting the visual representation in the application includes: obtaining a type of the data object accessed in the application; and in response to determining that the type of the data object matches the predetermined task, presenting the visual representation in the application.

[0062] According to some implementations of the disclosure, creating the page further includes a fourth area for specifying a presentation attribute of the visual representation, the presentation attribute including at least any of: a mode, a position, and a state of the visual representation; and wherein presenting the visual representation in the application includes presenting the visual representation according to the presentation attribute.

[0063] According to some implementations of the disclosure, the application is a web application, and the method is implemented with a plug-in for a browser accessing the web application.

[0064] According to some implementations of the disclosure, the method 700 further includes: in response to receiving the addition request, adding the tool into the plug-in.

[0065] According to some implementations of the disclosure, the plug-in includes a plurality of tools, and the method 700 further includes: for another web application accessed with the browser, determining a set of tools from the plurality of tools that match a type of the another web application; and presenting the set of tools in the another web application.

[0066] Example apparatus and devices

[0067] FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 800 for managing tools in an application, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The apparatus includes a page presenting module 810 configured for, in response to receiving a creation request for creating a tool in an application, presenting a creation page, the tool for performing a predetermined task, and the creation page including: a first area for specifying a description of the predetermined task in a natural language; and a second area for specifying a visual representation corresponding to the tool; a creation module 820 configured for, in response to receiving an interaction request for the creation page, creating the tool based on the description and the visual representation of the predetermined task specified by the interaction request; and a tool presenting module 830 configured for presenting the visual representation corresponding to the tool in the application.

[0068] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the apparatus 800 further includes a sending module configured for, in response to receiving a calling request for the visual representation, sending the description to a processing system for performing the predetermined task; and a providing module configured for providing a processing result for the calling request based on a response for the description from the processing system.

[0069] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the creation page further includes a third area for specifying a data source of at least one data object to be processed by the predetermined task, the data source including at least any of: data accessed in the application, data selected in the application, and data submitted to the application.

[0070] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the sending module is further configured for: acquiring the at least one data object based on the data source; and in response to determining that a type of the at least one data object matches the predetermined task, sending the description to the processing system.

[0071] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the sending module is further configured for: in response to determining that the type of the at least one data object does not match the predetermined task, providing a notification in the application for indicating a user to re-specify the at least one data object.

[0072] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the tool presenting module 830 is further configured for: acquiring a type of a data object accessed in the application; and in response to determining that the type of the data object matches the predetermined task, presenting the visual representation in the application.

[0073] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the creation page further includes a fourth area for specifying a presentation attribute of the visual representation, the presentation attribute including at least any of: a mode, a position, and a state of the visual representation; and the tool presenting module is further configured for presenting the visual representation according to the presentation attribute.

[0074] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the application is a web application, and the method is implemented with a plug-in for a browser used to access the web application.

[0075] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the apparatus 800 further includes adding the tool into the plug-in in response to receiving the adding request.

[0076] According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the plug-in includes a plurality of tools, and the tool presenting module is further configured to: for another web application accessed with the browser, determine a set of tools from the plurality of tools that match a type of the another web application; and present the set of tools in the another web application.

[0077] FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a device 900 that can implement a number of implementations of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the computing device 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 is merely an example and should not be construed as any limitation of the functionality and scope of the implementations described herein. The computing device 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 can be used to implement the methods described above.

[0078] As illustrated in FIG. 9, the computing device 900 is in the form of a general- purpose computing device. Components of the computing device 900 can include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 910, a memory 920, a storage device 930, one or more communication units 940, one or more input devices 950, and one or more output devices 960. The processing unit 910 can be a real or virtual processor and is capable of executing various processing in accordance with programs stored in the memory 920. In a multi-processing system, multiple processing units execute computer-executable instructions in parallel to improve the processing power of the computing device 900.

[0079] The computing device 900 typically includes a plurality of computer storage media. Such media can be volatile and nonvolatile media and removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data. The memory 920 can be volatile memory (e.g., registers, cache, random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile memory (e.g., read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory), or some combination thereof. The storage device 930 can be a removable or non-removable media and can include machine readable media such as flash drives, disks, or any other media capable of storing information and / or data (e.g., training data for training) and accessible by the computing device 900.

[0080] The computing device 900 can further include additional removable / non-removable, volatile / non-volatile storage devices. Although not shown in FIG. 9, a magnetic disk drive and an optical disk drive can be provided for reading from or writing to a removable, non-removable, volatile, or non-volatile memory media such as a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, and the like. In these instances, each can be connected to the bus by one or more data media interfaces. The memory 920 can include a computer program product 925 having one or more program modules configured to carry out the various methods or actions of the various implementations of the present disclosure.

[0081] The communication unit 940 enables communications with other computing devices over a communication medium. Additionally, the functionality of the components of the computing device 900 can be implemented in a single computing cluster or a plurality of computer machines that are capable of communicating over a communication connection. Thus, the computing device 900 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more other servers, network personal computers (PCs), or another network nodes in the networking environment.

[0082] The input device 950 can be one or more input devices, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a trackball, etc. The output device 960 can be one or more output devices, such as a display, a speaker, a printer, etc. The computing device 900 can also communicate with one or more external devices (not shown) such as a storage device, a display device, etc. through the communication unit 940, as needed, one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the computing device 900, or any devices (e.g., a network card, a modem, etc.) that enable the computing device 900 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can be carried out through an input / output (I / O) interface (not shown).

[0083] According to an example implementation of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, where the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor to implement the method described above. According to an example implementation of the present disclosure, there is also provided a computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and comprising computer-executable instructions, where the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor to implement the method described above. According to an example implementation of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product having a computer program stored thereon, which when executed by a processor implements the method described above.

[0084] The computer readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can include a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that can be a computer- readable storage medium having no data, programs, program modules, e.g., instructions for operation, or digital content stored thereon or therein for a short time or not at all.

[0085] These computer readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can include a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that can be a computer- readable storage medium having no data, programs, program modules, e.g., instructions for operation, or digital content stored thereon or therein for a short time or not at all.

[0086] These computer readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can include a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that can be a computer- readable storage medium having no data, programs, program modules, e.g., instructions for operation, or digital content stored thereon or therein for a short time or not at all.

[0087] The computer readable program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0088] Having described various implementations of the disclosure above, the descriptions are not exhaustive and do not limit the disclosure to the disclosed implementations. Numerous modifications and adaptations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described implementations. The scope of the disclosure includes all the implementations of which an equivalent would be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure given and the associated drawings. The selection of the terms to be used in the written description is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, but rather to best describe the principles of the various implementations in preference to a careful drawing of equivalent alternatives which are to be substituted for the preferred implementations illustrated and described.

Claims

1. A method for managing tools in an application, comprising: In response to receiving a creation request for creating a tool in the application, a creation page is presented, the tool being used to perform a predetermined task, and the creation page includes: The first region is used to specify a description of the predetermined task in natural language; and The second region is used to specify the visual representation corresponding to the tool; In response to receiving an interaction request for the creation page, the tool is created based on the description and visual representation of the predetermined task specified by the interaction request; and The application presents the visual representation corresponding to the tool.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: In response to receiving a request for the visual representation, the description is sent to the processing system to execute the predetermined task; as well as Based on the response from the processing system to the description, a processing result for the invocation request is provided.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein creating the page further comprises: The third area is used to specify the data source of at least one data object to be processed by the predetermined task, the data source including at least one of the following: data accessed in the application, data selected in the application, and data submitted to the application.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein sending the description to the processing system comprises: The at least one data object is obtained based on the data source; as well as In response to determining that the type of the at least one data object matches the predetermined task, the description is sent to the processing system.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: In response to determining that the type of the at least one data object does not match the predetermined task, a notification is provided in the application to instruct the user to re-specify the at least one data object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the visual representation in the application comprises: Obtain the type of the data object accessed in the application; as well as In response to determining that the type of the data object matches the predetermined task, the visual representation is presented in the application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the page further comprises: The fourth region is used to specify the presentation attributes of the visual representation, which include at least one of the following: the mode, position, and state of the visual representation; as well as Presenting the visual representation in the application includes presenting the visual representation according to the presentation attributes.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is a web application, and the method is implemented using a browser plugin for accessing the web application.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: In response to receiving an add request, the tool is added to the plugin.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plug-in comprises a plurality of tools, and the method further comprises: For another web application accessed using the browser, determine a set of tools from the plurality of tools that match the type of the other web application; as well as The set of tools is presented in the other web application.

11. An apparatus for managing tools in an application, comprising: A page rendering module is configured to, in response to receiving a creation request for creating a tool in the application, render a creation page, the tool being used to perform a predetermined task, and the creation page includes: The first region is used to specify a description of the predetermined task in natural language; and The second region is used to specify the visual representation corresponding to the tool; The creation module is configured to respond to received interactions with the creation page. The request is to create the tool based on the description and visual representation of the predetermined task specified by the interaction request; and A tool presentation module is configured to present the visual representation corresponding to the tool in the application.

12. An electronic device, comprising: At least one processing unit; as well as At least one memory, coupled to the at least one processing unit and storing instructions for execution by the at least one processing unit, the instructions causing the electronic device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 when executed by the at least one processing unit.

13. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program causing the processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 when executed by a processor.

14. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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