A Multi-Platform-based Approach To Generation Of Mobile User Interfaces

Nowadays, a mobile application has to be implemented with different versions on multiple platforms, such as, Android and iOS version, in order to attract a great number of users and to reach the huge commercial success. However, the implementation of user interfaces on divergent mobile platforms is differed totally from each other. Generally, each of platforms has its specific development environment, including the programing language and architectural framework. Although the interactive styles of App in multiple platforms look similar with each other, however, the user interface development in multiple platforms requires developers have different knowledge to repeat code in cross platform development. As a result, it causes the waste of manpower and material resources. So, how to generate a cross-platform mobile user interface quickly and efficiently becomes a problem.Currently, popular approach to solve this problem is to use web technology. This approach relies on the commonality of web technology in various mobile platform to construct the mobile interface. Because of low efficiency, poor interaction ability, this approach is not an optimal solution.This article puts forward a mobile interface generation approach based on multiple platforms which is able to improve the efficiency of multiple platforms mobile user interface development. This approach mainly includes two aspects of technology, one is the introduction of user UI Pattern to speed up the user interface design, which introduces user interface patterns to save the time of the transform between the interface design and the interface code. At the same time, it absorbs the general experience in dealing with the common user interface design and be able to be described in a virtual platform. The other is using multiple platform code conversion. This approach enables to transform abstract user interface of virtual platform into different specific mobile platforms (Android&iOS) quickly. The approach changes the multiple platform mobile interface development process:to design an abstract interface in virtual platform then converted into different specific mobile user interfaces in one time. It helps accelerate the development process of multiple platform mobile interface effectively. This article describes in detail the mobile interface generation approach based on multiple platforms processes and overall framework. It introduces platform independent interface description language, the use of mobile UI Pattern for interface design and the mapping from the abstract interface to multiple platform user interface. Finally, this article utilizes an instance to prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach.