Building applications for configuring processes

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for specifying a user interface. One of the methods includes receiving an identification of at least one configurable application, each configurable application being configurable by one or more parameters. The method includes identifying a set of parameters associated with the at least one configurable application. The method includes displaying, in a second user interface, a graphical display element, the graphical display element having properties and associated with a location relative to the first user interface. The method includes displaying, in the second user interface, one or more graphical representations of the set of parameters. The method includes receiving a mapping between a property of the graphical display element and a parameter of the set of parameters. The method also includes storing a representation of the mapping and the location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for specifying a first graphical user interface for configuring a configurable application, the method comprising:
 using at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 receiving information identifying the configurable application; 
 identifying a set of one or more parameters associated with the configurable 
   application;
 receiving, via a second graphical user interface, information identifying a graphical 
   display element to place within the first graphical user interface;
 displaying the graphical display element in a portion of the second graphical user 
   interface representing the first graphical user interface;
 displaying, in the second graphical user interface, a graphical representation of at 
   least one parameter in the set of parameters associated with the configurable application;
 obtaining, based at least in part on input provided via the second user interface, a 
   mapping between a first property of the graphical display element and a first parameter of the at least one parameter in the set of parameters associated with the configurable application; and
 storing a representation of the mapping. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether a data type associated with the first property is compatible with a data type associated with the first parameter.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 preventing the first property of the graphical display element from being associated with the first parameter, when it is determined that the data type associated with the first property is not compatible with the data type associated with the first parameter.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the second graphical user interface, information specifying at least one condition that must be satisfied before the first graphical user interface displays the graphical display element to a user.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the configurable application comprises a dataflow graph, the data flow graph comprising components and a plurality of links connecting the components. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises:
 identifying a link in the plurality of links;   obtaining a mapping between a property of a second graphical display element and the identified link, wherein the second graphical display element is configured to display a flow of data at the link to a user of the first user interface.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the configurable application comprises an execution flow graph. 
     
     
         8 . A system for specifying a first graphical user interface for configuring a configurable application, the system comprising:
 at least one computer hardware processor;   at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing software that, when executed by the at least one computer hardware processor, causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 receiving information identifying the configurable application; 
 identifying a set of one or more parameters associated with the configurable 
   application;
 receiving, via a second graphical user interface, information identifying a graphical 
   display element to place within the first graphical user interface;
 displaying the graphical display element in a portion of the second graphical user 
   interface representing the first graphical user interface;
 displaying, in the second graphical user interface, a graphical representation of at 
   least one parameter in the set of parameters associated with the configurable application;
 obtaining, based at least in part on input provided via the second user interface, a 
   mapping between a first property of the graphical display element and a first parameter of the at least one parameter in the set of parameters associated with the configurable application; and
 storing a representation of the mapping. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 determining whether a data type associated with the first property is compatible with a data type associated with the first parameter.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 preventing the first property of the graphical display element from being associated with the first parameter, when it is determined that the data type associated with the first property is not compatible with the data type associated with the first parameter.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 receiving, via the second graphical user interface, information specifying at least one condition that must be satisfied before the first graphical user interface displays the graphical display element to a user.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the configurable application comprises a dataflow graph, the data flow graph comprising components and a plurality of links connecting the components. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 identifying a link in the plurality of links;   obtaining a mapping between a property of a second graphical display element and the identified link, wherein the second graphical display element is configured to display a flow of data at the link to a user of the first user interface.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the configurable application comprises an execution flow graph. 
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 at least one computer hardware processor;   at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing software that, when executed by the at least one computer hardware processor, causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 generating a second graphical user interface for use in specifying a first graphical user interface for configuring a configurable application, the second graphical user interface comprising:
 a first portion including a graphical representation of the first graphical user interface, the graphical representation including a graphical display element; 
 a second portion including a graphical representation of at least one 
 
 parameter associated with the configurable application; 
 obtaining, based at least in part on input provided via the second graphical user interface, a mapping between a property of the graphical display element and a first parameter of the at least one parameter associated with the configurable application; and 
 storing a representation of the mapping. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a display,   wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 cause the display to display the second graphical user interface. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 determining whether a data type associated with the first property is compatible with a data type associated with the first parameter.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 preventing the first property of the graphical display element from being associated with the first parameter, when it is determined that the data type associated with the first property is not compatible with the data type associated with the first parameter.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the software further causes the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 receiving, via the second graphical user interface, information specifying at least one condition that must be satisfied before the first graphical user interface displays the graphical display element to a user.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the configurable application comprises a data flow graph.