Throttling output with ongoing input

Abstract

A plurality of communications sent from a sending program can be stored in a queue for the duration of a time period specified by a timer. When the timer expires, a specified program module can be executed that merges the plurality of communications into a single result. The singe result can be sent to a receiving program. Incoming communications are not throttled or delayed.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computing device comprising:
 a processor:   a memory connected to the processor; the processor configured to:   set a timer;   create a queue;   receive at least one of a plurality of communications;   place a payload associated with the at least one communication into the queue until the timer expires;   in response to the timer expiring, process the contents of the queue to generate a single result;   generate a single communication comprising the single result.   
     
     
         2 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein a method that processes the contents of the queue is specified. 
     
     
         3 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one communication is sent from a first application. 
     
     
         4 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the single communication comprising the single result is sent to a second application. 
     
     
         5 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the data comprises mergeable data. 
     
     
         6 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the data comprises mergeable data comprising click and drag data. 
     
     
         7 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the second application comprises a user interface. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising configuring a processor of a computing device to:
 set a timer;   create a queue;   receive at least one communication of a plurality of communications from a first application until the timer expires;   store a payload of the at least one communication in the queue;   in response to the timer expiring, process contents of the queue;   generate a single communication having a payload comprising the result of processing contents of the queue; and   send the single communication to a second application.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first application is a user interface executing on a client computer. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the second application executes on a server computer. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first application is rendered by a browser using a script file. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the script file identifies a method that merges the content of the queue. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the script file specifies the timer. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the script file identifies a method that sends the generated single result. 
     
     
         15 . A computing device comprising:
 a processor;   a memory;   the memory connected to the processor; the processor configured to:   merge until a timer expires payloads associated with communications received from a sending application to generate a single result, the payloads stored in a queue; and   send a single communication comprising the single result to a receiving application.   
     
     
         16 . The computing device of  claim 15 , the processor further configured to:
 clear the queue after contents of the queue have been processed.   
     
     
         17 . The computing device of  claim 15 , the processor further configured to:
 reset the timer.   
     
     
         18 . The computing device of  claim 15 , wherein a delay parameter specifies how much time can elapse between receiving a communication and releasing the communication. 
     
     
         19 . The computing device of  claim 15 , wherein a method parameter specifies a method invoked after a delay has occurred. 
     
     
         20 . The computing device of  claim 15 , wherein a method parameter specifies a method invoked to send the single communication.