Interactive Application Simulation With Modular Display Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for creating and maintaining training environments for applications, such as sandboxes or image-based and HTML-based simulation tools, are costly and difficult to upgrade and maintain, especially when display presentations change frequently.
Innovation Solution
A simulation generator that separates and stores non-flow-based content and flow-based controls in different storage structures, generating pre-rendered simulated display presentations that can be updated efficiently without affecting the actual application, allowing guided training through a digital adoption platform.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If image-based simulation tools are used to create training environments, then simulation-based application training can be provided, but maintenance effort increases significantly when display presentations change
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the simulation environment into modular components: display presentations are separated from simulation workflows. Display presentations are stored as independent image files while simulation workflows are defined by sequences of presentation identifiers. This segmentation allows display presentations to be updated without requiring changes to simulation workflows, resolving the maintenance burden when UI changes occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified copies of the actual application interface through image-based display presentations. These copies capture the visual appearance of application screens without requiring the full application to be installed or maintained. The simulation workflows reference these image copies through identifiers, allowing training environments to be maintained independently from the source application.
2Reliability
If sandboxes or training instances of the application are created, then production-like training environment can be provided, but additional software license cost and installation effort are incurred
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses image-based copies of application display presentations instead of creating full sandbox instances. The display presentations are captured as images from the actual application and stored separately, allowing training to proceed without installing or licensing the full application. This dramatically reduces device complexity while maintaining the ability to provide production-like visual training environments.
3Manufacturing precision
If HTML-based simulation tools are used to capture display presentations, then better response rendering is achieved, but maintenance difficulty remains similar to image-based tools
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the simulation system into display presentation images and workflow definitions, where workflows reference presentations by identifier rather than embedding HTML structure. This segmentation decouples the rendering quality (handled by image presentation) from the workflow maintenance (handled by simple identifier sequences), allowing high-quality rendering without the maintenance complexity of HTML-based approaches.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments provide a novel method for providing simulated operations of an application with several display presentations through which several flows are defined. The method collects, and stores in a data store, several display presentations produced by the application for display in several different display areas. The method iteratively re-collects the display presentations to analyze to identify any display presentation that has been modified since the display presentation's last collection. For any particular display presentation that is identified as having been modified since the last collection, the method modifies the particular display presentation in the data store to reflect any modification to the particular display presentation since the last collection. The method uses the display presentations stored in the data store to provide the simulated operations of the application.