Interactive Web Editor for Dynamic UI Customization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing web application development technologies lack standardized UI widget sets and efficient methods for creating and customizing user interfaces across different platforms and devices, leading to cumbersome, incomplete, and often faulty UI experiences.
Innovation Solution
An interactive web application editor that dynamically generates user interfaces at runtime using parameterized UI definition files, allowing for real-time editing and customization of UI components without requiring code base changes, and supports simultaneous simulation and editing across multiple platforms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional web application development methods are used, then developers can create custom UI experiences, but the process is cumbersome and requires skilled developers to understand and edit code directly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a visual editor as an intermediary tool between the user and the code base. This editor provides a user-friendly interface for defining UI components and their parameters, automatically generating the necessary code without requiring users to manually write or edit code. The visual editor acts as a mediator that translates user-friendly UI definitions into executable code, eliminating the need for users to understand complex code bases while still enabling custom UI experiences.
2Adaptability or versatility
If CSS pre-processors are used for customization, then UI flexibility is improved, but performance degrades due to computationally expensive parsing and transformation steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the computationally expensive parsing and transformation of UI definition files during the build process rather than at runtime. The visual editor generates optimized code during the development phase, and the resulting application runs efficiently without needing to re-parse or re-transform definitions during execution. This preliminary action approach separates the heavy computational work from the runtime performance-critical path, maintaining both flexibility and performance.
3Productivity
If static UI definitions are used, then application performance is maintained, but UI customization capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables dynamic UI customization without compromising performance by using a two-stage approach: static code generation during the build process and dynamic parameter configuration at runtime. The visual editor generates optimized static code that maintains performance, while the system allows dynamic adjustment of UI parameters through the visual editor without requiring code re-compilation or re-parsing. This dynamic capability is achieved through efficient parameter binding and rendering updates that preserve application performance while enabling customization.
Data Source
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AI summary
Interactive editing of a web application at a user end station is described. The user end station dynamically loads into a running instance of the web application an interactive editor that allows editing of one or more user interface (UI) components of that running instance of the web application. A selection of a DOM element of the web application is received and a UI component that corresponds to the selected DOM element is determined. A set of parameters associated with the determined UI component is also determined. A value editor is displayed that is configured to display for at least one of the set of parameters a value and allows for that value to be modified. A modification of at least the value of the at least one of the set of parameters is received and the running instance of the web application is updated to reflect the modified value.