Server-Side Attachment Rendering for Portable Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable electronic devices face challenges in viewing attachments with proprietary formats like Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat due to resource constraints and the need for large screen displays, as these devices lack ideal solutions for rendering such content on their small screens.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a server-side process that builds a Document Object Model (DOM) of the attachment, renders it into a JPEG format, and sends it as Universal Content Stream (UCS) for display on the device, allowing for rendering of formats like Microsoft Office, Word, and Adobe Acrobat documents, enabling proper viewing on portable devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary format applications (e.g., Pocket Word, Pocket Excel) are installed on portable devices to view attachments, then viewing capability is improved, but device resources (memory and storage space) are excessively consumed
Solution Approach 1:
A server acts as an intermediary between the portable device and proprietary format attachments. The server receives the attachment, converts it to a portable device-friendly format (such as HTML or image), and delivers the converted version to the device. This eliminates the need to install resource-intensive proprietary applications on the device while maintaining full viewing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of running the original proprietary format applications on the portable device, the system creates a copy of the attachment content in a simplified, device-compatible format. The converted version (e.g., HTML rendering or image representation) is delivered to the device, providing equivalent viewing functionality without requiring the original application environment.
2Ease of operation
If attachments are viewed on portable electronic devices with small screens, then portability is maintained, but viewing quality and proper display are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the display parameters of attachments based on the portable device's screen characteristics. The server converts attachments into formats optimized for small screens, adjusting resolution, scaling, and layout parameters to ensure proper display quality while maintaining portability. This may include generating thumbnail versions, optimizing image compression, or restructuring document layouts for small displays.
Data Source
AI summary
Method for viewing an attachment of an email message on a portable electronic device in which the attachment has a renderable format is provided. The method includes: requesting to view the attachment in an attachment viewer of the portable electronic device, building a graph structure within an attachment server representing a map of the attachment, the graph structure including at least one renderable identifier corresponding to a page of the attachment, requesting rendering of the attachment, the rendering request being send from the attachment viewer to the attachment server and including the at least one renderable identifier, initializing a rendering library and storing rendering commands corresponding to command types of the graph structure in the rendering library, drawing the rendering commands in an off-screen bitmap, saving the off-screen bitmap as a JPEG file, sending the JPEG file to the electronic device and displaying the JPEG file in the attachment viewer.