Persisting Visual Control Element State in Dynamic Web Pages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dynamically generated web pages constructed from widgets and resources specified in a URL lose their visual control element state when users navigate away and return, due to the pages being re-rendered without storing state information.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the creation and storage of a key from URL parameters to persist the state of visual control elements, allowing for the recreation of the state when the user returns to the page, by parsing the URL to generate key-value pairs, alphabetizing them, concatenating into a string, and storing this key for retrieval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If web pages are dynamically rendered each time they are accessed, then the pages can be flexibly composed from reusable widgets and resources, but the visual control element state is lost when users navigate away and return to the page
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing and storing the state of visual control elements (such as table sorting, filtering, and selection states) before the user navigates away from the page. When the user returns, the pre-stored state is automatically restored, eliminating the need to reapply changes and preventing information loss while maintaining dynamic page composition flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy of the visual control element state data (including sorting criteria, filtering parameters, and selected items) and stores it separately from the page structure. This state copy is then applied when the page is re-rendered, allowing the page to be dynamically composed from reusable widgets while preserving the user's previous interactions and preferences
2Ease of manufacture
If web pages are dynamically generated from URL-specified widgets and resources, then new pages can be easily defined during prototyping and created in the field, but any manipulations made to visual control elements are lost upon page reload
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring and capturing user manipulations of visual control elements (such as column sorting, row filtering, and item selection) and storing this state information. When the page is reloaded or the user returns, the system applies the stored state feedback to restore the visual control elements to their previous configuration, ensuring that user interactions are not lost while maintaining the ease of dynamic page generation
3Ease of operation
If the page state is stored to maintain user preferences, then the user experience is improved by maintaining the last viewed state, but additional storage and processing requirements are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential state information from the page (such as sorting criteria, filtering parameters, and selected items) and stores this extracted data in a compact format. This selective extraction approach maintains user experience by preserving important visual control element states while minimizing storage requirements and processing overhead, avoiding the need to store the entire page state
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a method for using a key to recreate a state of a visual control element includes retrieving a key from memory. The key represents a state of a visual control element to be output to a dynamically-generated web page. The method also includes parsing the key to obtain a plurality of key-value pairs representing parameters of a uniform resource locator (URL) which is used to recreate the visual control element. Also, the method includes outputting the visual control element to the dynamically-generated web page using the URL according to the state obtained from the key.