Software architecture for displaying information content from plug-in modules in a user interface

摘要

A user interface application, such as a sidebar application or web page, receives content from a set of plug-in modules. The user interface handles the display of the content and manages any user interaction with the content, thus abstracting these features from the plug-in modules. The plug-in modules may thus be device-independent and possibly used to display the same or corresponding content in other interfaces and/or other devices. One or more of the plug-in modules may also be designed to obtain and populate their content automatically based on user activity, including web browsing or interactions with documents on the local system.