Object model for a user interface

Abstract

Various embodiments provide techniques and processes for defining elements of a user interface (UI) using a tree of objects created based on a markup language. In some embodiments, a client application provides markup that defines one or more aspects of a UI to an application programming interface (API). The API parses the markup to determine a namespace and one or more UI elements defined by the namespace. Instances of the UI elements are created, and properties of the UI elements are set on the instances. A user interface may then be displayed that includes the instances of the UI elements.

1 . A method implemented by one or more computing devices, the method comprising:
 receiving markup that specifies a user interface element;   parsing the markup to extract a namespace and a class type from the markup;   requesting, using the namespace and the class type, an instance of the user interface element, the instance corresponding to the class type;   setting one or more properties of the instance of the user interface element; and   making the instance available for display.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the user interface element comprises a visual aspect of a user interface. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the method is implemented via an application programming interface (API) executed by the one or more computing devices. 
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein, in response to the act of requesting, a tree of objects is created that comprises a plurality of element types and the instance of the user interface element for each of the element types. 
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the instance of the user interface element is associated with a base class from which the instance of the user interface element inherits one or more properties. 
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the instance of the user interface element inherits a property from a base class and overrides a property of the base class. 
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the one or more of the properties define visual attributes of the instance of the user interface element. 
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the markup comprises a plurality of additional namespaces and a class type for each additional namespace of the plurality of additional namespaces. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising displaying a user interface that comprises the instance of the user interface element. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors;   one or more computer-readable storage devices;   computer-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable storage devices and executable by the one or more processors to implement an application programming interface (API) to perform a method comprising:
 receiving markup that specifies a user interface element; 
 parsing the markup to extract a namespace and class types from the markup; 
 requesting, using the namespace and the class types, an instance of the user interface element, the instance of the user interface element corresponding to one of the class types and inheriting a property from the class type to which the instance of the user interface corresponds; 
 setting one or more other properties of the instance of the user interface element; and 
 making the instance of the user interface element available for display. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the user interface element comprises a visual aspect of a user interface. 
     
     
         12 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein, in response to the act of requesting, a tree of objects is created that comprises a plurality of element types and one or more instances of the user interface element for each of the element types. 
     
     
         13 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the one or more other properties of the instance of the user interface element include a property inherited from a base class and a property overridden from the base class. 
     
     
         14 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein one of the one or more of the other properties defines a visual attribute of the instance of the user interface element. 
     
     
         15 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the markup comprises a plurality of additional namespaces and a class types for each additional namespace of the plurality of additional namespaces. 
     
     
         16 . A method implemented via an application programming interface (API), the method comprising:
 receiving markup that specifies user interface specifications;   parsing the markup to extract the interface specifications;   determining, based on the extracted user interface specifications, a namespace and a user interface object model (UIOM) class of objects within the namespace;   requesting, using the namespace and the UIOM class of objects, an instance of the UIOM class of objects having a first property inherited from a base class;   setting a second property of the instance of the UIOM class of objects; and   making the instance of the UIOM class of objects available for display.   
     
     
         17 . The method as recited in  claim 16 , further comprising creating a tree of objects that comprises the instance of the UIOM class of objects, the tree of objects defining at least part of a user interface. 
     
     
         18 . The method as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the instance of the UIOM class of objects includes a third property overridden from the base class. 
     
     
         19 . The method as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the API is part of a UIOM framework configured to generate a user interface based on the markup. 
     
     
         20 . The method as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the instance of the UIOM class of objects is generated using a dynamic link library.