Abstract: A method of determining information about a device includes the steps of 1) acquiring an image of at least a portion of the device, 2) comparing the information content of the image to the information content of at least one record of a library, and, 3) if the comparison is positive, reporting that the device is in the possible state represented by the library record. A method which depends on calculations based on the acquired image rather than on comparison of the information content of the image to the information content of one or more library records is also disclosed. A system for determining the state of the device is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method of determining information about a device includes the steps of 1) acquiring an image of at least a portion of the device, 2) comparing the information content of the image to the information content of at least one record of a library, and, 3) if the comparison is positive, reporting that the device is in the possible state represented by the library record. A method which depends on calculations based on the acquired image rather than on comparison of the information content of the image to the information content of one or more library records is also disclosed. A system for determining the state of the device is also disclosed.

Abstract: An items manager can request and receive data items from a data source via a data source adapter. The items manager can also maintain a list of data representation items representing data items. The data representation items can include user interface elements. Also, maintaining the list can include invoking a renderer to render the data representation items from the data items received from the data source, and including the data representation items in the list. The items manager can provide a client with an enumeration through the list of data representation items. The items manager may also provide other features, such as providing the client with notifications of changes to the list of data representation items.

Abstract: An original representation of an original set of data in a data source can be provided, and an updated representation of an updated set of data in the data source can be received. A change notification set that includes change notifications can be generated by comparing the updated representation with the original representation. The change notification set can represent a possible set of changes that yield the updated representation when starting with the original representation. The change notification set can be sent to a client of the data source. One or more requests from the client for data from the data source may be processed while obtaining the updated representation of the updated set of data. This processing can include adding one or more placeholders and matching the placeholder(s) with one or more items in the updated set of data.

Abstract: A data representation that represents source data at a data source can be maintained. A request to perform an edit can be received from a client, and a request to make the edit to the source data can be sent to the data source. The edit can be optimistically applied to the data representation. Additionally, a change notification can be sent to the client. The change notification can indicate one or more changes to the data representation, where the change(s) resulted from the application of the edit to the data representation. A notification can be received from the data source after applying the edit to the data representation and after sending the change notification. The notification from the data source can indicate whether the edit to the source data succeeded.

Abstract: One or more requests from a client for data representation items can be received by an items manager. The data representation items can represent data items in a data source. In response, the items manager can perform the following: generating placeholders corresponding to the data representation items; returning the placeholders to the client; fetching the data items from the data source; providing the data representation items to the client; and informing the client that the placeholders are to be replaced with the data representation items. The items manager may determine whether each data representation item can be synchronously returned to the client. If so, the items manager may return that data representation item synchronously, and may forego providing the client with a placeholder for that data representation item. This may allow a client to interact with a single interface for both synchronous and asynchronous data sources.

Abstract: A data representation that represents source data at a data source can be maintained. A request to perform an edit can be received from a client, and a request to make the edit to the source data can be sent to the data source. The edit can be optimistically applied to the data representation. Additionally, a change notification can be sent to the client. The change notification can indicate one or more changes to the data representation, where the change(s) resulted from the application of the edit to the data representation. A notification can be received from the data source after applying the edit to the data representation and after sending the change notification. The notification from the data source can indicate whether the edit to the source data succeeded.

Abstract: An items manager can request and receive data items from a data source via a data source adapter. The items manager can also maintain a list of data representation items representing data items. The data representation items can include user interface elements. Also, maintaining the list can include invoking a renderer to render the data representation items from the data items received from the data source, and including the data representation items in the list. The items manager can provide a client with an enumeration through the list of data representation items. The items manager may also provide other features, such as providing the client with notifications of changes to the list of data representation items.

Abstract: One or more requests from a client for data representation items can be received by an items manager. The data representation items can represent data items in a data source. In response, the items manager can perform the following: generating placeholders corresponding to the data representation items; returning the placeholders to the client; fetching the data items from the data source; providing the data representation items to the client; and informing the client that the placeholders are to be replaced with the data representation items. The items manager may determine whether each data representation item can be synchronously returned to the client. If so, the items manager may return that data representation item synchronously, and may forego providing the client with a placeholder for that data representation item. This may allow a client to interact with a single interface for both synchronous and asynchronous data sources.

Abstract: An original representation of an original set of data in a data source can be provided, and an updated representation of an updated set of data in the data source can be received. A change notification set that includes change notifications can be generated by comparing the updated representation with the original representation. The change notification set can represent a possible set of changes that yield the updated representation when starting with the original representation. The change notification set can be sent to a client of the data source. One or more requests from the client for data from the data source may be processed while obtaining the updated representation of the updated set of data. This processing can include adding one or more placeholders and matching the placeholder(s) with one or more items in the updated set of data.