Use of Containers for Installing/Removing Products

Use of Containers for Installing/Removing Products

      Disclosed is a method for providing a common graphical user
interface utilizing OS/2 Workplace Shell* container objects.  In
designing the installation for a "family" of products, a consistency
problem arose.  The products were to be sold in separate "packages"
and on different types of media.  It quickly became apparent that
each of the products in the family would be designing their own
install process.  This would place the burden on the user to have to
learn several installation processes in order to install products
from the same "family".

      A consistent interface was needed to help show the user which
products were available from the packages they had purchased.  The
goal was to provide an object-oriented, OS/2 Workplace Shell
interface to install the different products (or sets of products).
Each product object is represented by an icon.  The icons were then
logically placed into two separate classes.  Each class of icons was
represented by a container holding the product icons.  One container
was used to show the user what products were available to install
(available container).  Another container was used to show the user
those products they had chosen to install along with the products
from the "family" that had already been installed.  The user can
simply move a product icon from the available container into the
installed container to begin the installation process.  This
interface...