Graphical Program Encapsulation in Standard Image Files
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Solution Overview
Problem
Graphical programming files created by development environments are often proprietary and cannot be read or displayed by general-purpose software applications due to their specialized file structures, limiting their transfer and usage outside the original development environment.
Innovation Solution
A method to encapsulate a graphical program within a standard image file, including both pixel information for display and graphical program information, allowing the graphical program to be transferred and displayed in various software applications and instantiated in a graphical programming development environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If graphical programs are saved in proprietary file formats, then they can be created and executed within the graphical programming development environment, but they cannot be read or displayed by general-purpose software applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds graphical program data within standard image file formats (such as PNG), allowing the same file to serve dual purposes: as a displayable image for general-purpose applications and as a container for executable graphical program code for development environments. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by making the file format universally compatible while preserving the specialized graphical program functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent nests the graphical program data structure within the image file format structure. The graphical program information (nodes, edges, configurations) is embedded as metadata or data segments within the standard image file container. This nesting allows the complex graphical program to be packaged inside a simple, widely-supported image format, resolving the contradiction between complexity and compatibility.
2Loss of information
If graphical programs use specialized file structures, then they can maintain detailed node and interconnection information, but general-purpose applications cannot read or display them
Solution Approach 1:
By using standard image file formats as the container, the patent enables general-purpose applications to read and display the file content as images while preserving the embedded graphical program information for later extraction and execution. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining full graphical program information within a universally compatible format.
Solution Approach 2:
The standard image file format acts as an intermediary container that bridges between the specialized graphical program data structure and general-purpose application file reading capabilities. The image format serves as a neutral mediator that preserves the graphical program information while being readable by any application that supports standard image formats.
3Ease of operation
If graphical program files are created with detailed node configurations, then the programs can be fully functional, but they become difficult to transfer and share across different systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes graphical programs easy to transfer and share by packaging them in standard image file formats that can be opened by any application on any system. The universal image format eliminates transfer barriers while the embedded data structure preserves full program functionality, resolving the contradiction between ease of transfer and functional completeness.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for encapsulating a graphical program within an image or other object are described. Graphical program information representing the graphical program may be stored within the image. The graphical program information may specify a plurality of interconnected nodes of the graphical program. In addition to the graphical program information, the image also includes pixel information for displaying the image. The image may subsequently be provided to a graphical programming development environment. The graphical programming development environment may retrieve the graphical program information from the image and use the graphical program information to automatically instantiate an editable, executable version of the graphical program.