Launchpad for multi application user interface

Abstract

In one general aspect, a method and system are described for generating a customizable web interface for launching a plurality of applications on a client computing device. The system and method may include obtaining access to a plurality of services for configuring the plurality of applications on the customizable web interface. At least one of the plurality of services determines a role for a user accessing the client computing device. The system and method may also include registering a namespace for each application, generating a plurality of graphical targets leading to selectable access of a portion of the plurality of applications, embedding, in the customizable web interface, the plurality of graphical targets corresponding to the portion, and accessing at least one service to generate and display, on a display device of the client computing device, the customizable web interface with the plurality of graphical targets for the portion.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for generating a customizable web interface for launching a plurality of applications on a client computing device, the method comprising:
 obtaining access to a plurality of services for configuring the plurality of applications on the customizable web interface, wherein at least one of the plurality of services determines a role for a user accessing the client computing device;   registering a namespace for each application in the plurality of applications;   generating a plurality of graphical targets leading to selectable access of a portion of the plurality of applications, the plurality of graphical targets configured for display in the customizable web interface, the portion selected based on the role of the user;   embedding, in the customizable web interface, the plurality of graphical targets corresponding to the portion of the plurality of applications; and   accessing at least one of the plurality of services to generate and display, on a display device of the client computing device, the customizable web interface with the plurality of graphical targets for the portion.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising selecting a different portion of the plurality of applications and display a different plurality of graphical targets for the different portion in the customizable web interface, in response to detecting that a role of the user is modified. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using a runtime configuration to populate the customizable web interface with configuration settings for the plurality of applications according to the role. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the configuration settings for each of the plurality of applications include static configuration settings, initial configuration data, and query parameters for embedding each application in the customizable web interface, wherein the query parameters pertain to a URL associated with the customizable web interface. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the customizable web interface is a webpage and embedding a plurality of graphical targets for accessing the plurality of applications uses inline frames on the webpage. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the customizable web interface is a self-contained graphical component with access to a document object model to display the portion of the plurality of graphical targets. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the customizable web interface is adapted to provide a user with an application-to-application navigation function, a personalization function, a role-based application assignment function, a search function, and an incident creation function. 
     
     
         8 . A system for generating a customizable web interface for launching a plurality of applications on a client computing device, the system comprising:
 a shell container, executing in a web browser and providing a plurality of services for configuring the plurality of applications on the customizable web interface, wherein at least one of the plurality of services determines a role for a user accessing the client computing device;   an application container, executing in the web browser, the application container,
 registering a namespace for each application in the plurality of applications, the namespace indicating a location to obtain content to load and execute in the web browser for enabling use of each respective application, 
 generating a plurality of graphical targets leading to selectable access of a portion of the plurality of applications, the plurality of graphical targets configured for display in the customizable web interface, the portion selected based on the role of the user, 
 embedding, in the customizable web interface, the plurality of graphical targets corresponding to the portion of the plurality of applications, and 
 accessing at least one of the plurality of services to generate and display, on a display device of the client computing device, the customizable web interface with the plurality of graphical targets for the portion and according to the determined role. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the application container is further capable of selecting a different portion of the plurality of applications and displaying a different plurality of graphical targets for the different portion in the customizable web interface, in response to detecting that a role of the user is modified. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the shell container uses a runtime configuration to populate the customizable web interface with configuration settings for the plurality of applications according to the role. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the configuration settings for each of the plurality of applications include static configuration settings, initial configuration data, and query parameters for embedding each application in the customizable web interface, wherein the query parameters pertain to a URL associated with the customizable web interface. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the customizable web interface is a webpage and wherein embedding a plurality of graphical targets for accessing the plurality of applications uses inline frames on the webpage. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the customizable web interface is a self-contained graphical component with access to a document object model to display the portion of the plurality of graphical targets. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the customizable web interface is adapted to provide a user with an application-to-application navigation function, a personalization function, a role-based application assignment function, a search function, and an incident creation function. 
     
     
         15 . A computer program product for generating a customizable web interface for launching a plurality of applications on a client computing device, the computer program product being tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one computing device, are configured to cause the at least one computing device to:
 obtain access to a plurality of services for configuring the plurality of applications on the customizable web interface, wherein at least one of the plurality of services determines a role for a user accessing the client computing device;   register a namespace for each application in the plurality of applications;   generate a plurality of graphical targets leading to selectable access of a portion of the plurality of applications, the plurality of graphical targets configured for display in the customizable web interface, the portion selected based on the role of the user;   embed, in the customizable web interface, the plurality of graphical targets corresponding to the portion of the plurality of applications; and   access at least one of the plurality of services to generate and display, on a display device of the client computing device, the customizable web interface with the plurality of graphical targets for the portion.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further comprising selecting a different portion of the plurality of applications and displaying a different plurality of graphical targets for the different portion in the customizable web interface, in response to detecting that a role of the user is modified. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further comprising using a runtime configuration to populate the customizable web interface with configuration settings for the plurality of applications according to the role. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the configuration settings for each of the plurality of applications include static configuration settings, initial configuration data, and query parameters for embedding each application in the customizable web interface, wherein the query parameters pertain to a URL associated with the customizable web interface. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the customizable web interface is a self-contained graphical component with access to a document object model to display the portion of the plurality of graphical targets. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the customizable web interface is adapted to provide a user with an application-to-application navigation function, a personalization function, a role-based application assignment function, a search function, and an incident creation function.