Patent Publication Number: US-9405558-B2

Title: Display-independent computerized guidance

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the disclosure relate to display-independent computerized guidance. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A Personal Computer (PC) or a mobile device (such as a notebook computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a cellular phone and/or the like) allows users to utilize various applications, for example, word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, e-mail applications, games and the like. These applications may be able to perform various operations based on the user&#39;s command, for example, editing, calculating, formatting, file handling, data sorting, and/or the like. 
     A Graphical User Interface (GUI) of an application usually includes various controls (sometimes also referred to as “widgets”) that operate different functions of the application. Such controls may include, for example, icons, texts, buttons, input boxes, menus, drop-down lists, sliders, scroll bars, bars and/or any other operable visual element. In various mobile devices, a control may also be embodied in a physical button and not in the GUI of the application itself. For example, a certain button may be used to perform a specific function in an application. 
     As applications become more and more complex and sophisticated and thus include many different controls, some users find it useful to attend a course or seminar which teaches users how to use one or more applications. Some users require assistance from other users (such as co-workers, customer support representatives and/or the like) in order to be able to complete particular tasks using an application. Furthermore, it may be difficult for the user to find out, or to remember, whether or not an application is capable of performing a particular task, or which sequence of user-initiated steps is required in order to execute a particular task. 
     Some applications include a “help” function, in which the user may utilize an index of pre-defined topics, or a search based on user-entered keywords, in order to retrieve pre-defined textual and/or visual descriptions which may assist the user in finding how a particular task is performed. Additionally, some applications are associated with a user&#39;s manual, or with a batch of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), which may further guide the user on how to perform particular tasks. 
     The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the figures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope. 
     There is provided, in accordance with an embodiment, a method for display-independent execution of a computerized guidance script, the method comprising: capturing a screenshot of a graphical user interface (GUI) of a computerized application; analyzing the screenshot for matching a control of the screenshot with a control of the guidance script; and executing the guidance script, based on the matching, to operate the computerized application. 
     There is further provided, in accordance with an embodiment, a display-independent computerized guidance engine, comprising: a screenshot analysis engine for matching a control of a GUI of a computerized application with a control of a guidance script; and a guidance script execution engine for executing the guidance script, based on the matching, to operate the computerized application. 
     In some embodiments, the matching is performed according to a pre-defined accuracy level. 
     In some embodiments, the analyzing further comprises matching surroundings of the control of the screenshot with surroundings of the control of the guidance script. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises converting the screenshot to a 1-bit version. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises converting the screenshot to an inverted 1-bit version. 
     In some embodiments, the executing further comprises activating a control of the computerized application. 
     In some embodiments, the activating of the control comprises imitating a cursor click. 
     In some embodiments, the activating of the control comprises imitating keyboard input. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises activating a scroll bar for scrolling to a previously-invisible region of the computerized application. 
     In some embodiments, said screenshot analysis engine is set to a pre-defined accuracy level. 
     In some embodiments, said screenshot analysis engine is adapted to match surroundings of the control of the GUI with surroundings of the control of the guidance script. 
     In some embodiments, said screenshot analysis engine further comprises an image conversion module. 
     In some embodiments, said image conversion module is adapted to convert a screenshot to a 1-bit version. 
     In some embodiments, said image conversion module is adapted to convert a screenshot to an inverted 1-bit version. 
     In some embodiments, said guidance script execution engine is adapted to activate a control of a computerized application. 
     In some embodiments, said control is selected from a group consisting of: an icon, a text, a button, an input box, a menu, a drop-down list, a slider, a scroll bar and a bar. 
     In some embodiments, said screenshot analysis engine is adapted to activate a scroll bar for scrolling to a previously-invisible region of a computerized application. 
     In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the figures and by study of the following detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures. Dimensions of components and features shown in the figures are generally chosen for convenience and clarity of presentation and are not necessarily shown to scale. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. The figures are listed below. 
         FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a computerized guidance engine; 
         FIG. 2  shows a flow chart of a method for display-independent execution of a computerized guidance script; 
         FIG. 3  shows a Graphical User Interface (GUI) of an illustrative computerized application; 
         FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of a recording engine for a display-independent, computerized guidance script; 
         FIG. 5  shows a flow chart of a method for recording a display-independent, computerized guidance script; 
         FIG. 6  shows a block diagram of a display-independent, GUI control recognizer; 
         FIG. 7  shows a flow chart of a method for display-independent recognition of a GUI control; 
         FIG. 8  shows a block diagram of a display-independent, scroll bar recognizer; and 
         FIG. 9  shows a flow chart of a method for display-independent recognition of a scroll bar. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     An aspect of some embodiments relates to a guidance engine adapted to provide guidance to a user of a computerized application. The guidance may be performed by executing a guidance script capable of actually operating the application by way of, for example, activating one or more controls of the application. For instance, the guidance script may imitate cursor moves, cursor clicks or double-clicks, keyboard strokes, combination of cursor clicks and keyboard strokes and/or the like in lieu of the user. The term “imitate”, as referred to herein, may refer to an initiation of an action in the computerized application without actually receiving manual input from an input device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen and/or the like. 
     Furthermore, the guidance may be provided to the user in a manner independent of various display properties of the application and/or of the computerized device used by the user (this manner hereinafter referred to as “display-independent”). Since an application may be run with different display properties, such as window size, resolution, color, fonts, themes and/or the like, a conventional guidance script which was recorded with one set of display properties may encounter difficulties operating an application which uses a different set of display properties. This may happen, for example, because a certain GUI control operable by the conventional guidance script may appear in a new, unrecognized location and/or form in the actual application on which the script is finally run. The conventional script may therefore simply fail to identify and operate that control. 
     Accordingly, the present guidance engine may include a screenshot analysis engine for analyzing the GUI of the application, thereby matching at least one control present in the GUI with a corresponding control of a pre-recorded guidance script. Then, a guidance script execution engine may be able to execute the script and operate the necessary control—independent of the display properties of the application on which the script is executed. 
     An aspect of additional embodiments relates to a recording engine and a method thereof, for recording a display-independent, computerized guidance script. The recording engine may, in addition to recording a sequence of operations in an application, capture and analyze a screenshot of the application&#39;s GUI. In the analysis, the recording engine may inspect an area surrounding a determined cursor position, such as a position where a GUI control was activated by the user performing a sequence of operations. The activated GUI control may then be identified, and an image of it and/or metadata associated with it may then be assigned to the respective step of the operation sequence. 
     An additional aspect relates to a display-independent, GUI control recognizer and a method thereof. The GUI control recognizer may be capable of recognizing and identifying a GUI control in a screenshot of a user interface of an application. The use of the GUI control recognizer may or may not be tied to execution and/or recording of a guidance script. For example, recognition of GUI controls may be used as general-purpose image recognition method, to complement other computerized operations as desired. 
     Display-Independent Computerized Guidance 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 1 , which shows a block diagram of a computerized guidance engine (hereinafter “guidance engine”)  100 , according to an embodiment. Guidance engine  100  may be a software product installed on and/or adapted to be run on a computerized device, such as a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a mobile game console, an essentially stationary game console, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a cellular phone, a hybrid device (for example a device incorporating functionalities of multiple types of devices, such as PDA functionality and cellular phone functionality), a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device and/or the like. 
     Guidance engine  100  optionally includes a screenshot analysis engine  102  and a guidance script execution engine  104 , each being a software component and/or module or both being implemented as a single component and/or module.  FIG. 2  shows a flow chart of a method  200  (or an “algorithm”) for display-independent execution of a computerized guidance script; operation of guidance engine  100  of  FIG. 1  shall now be described through an explanation of method  200  of  FIG. 2 . 
     In a block  202 , a screenshot  204  of a GUI of a computerized application is captured, such as using screenshot analysis engine  102  ( FIG. 1 ) or a screenshot capture engine (not shown). This may be performed in response to a user request for guidance, made by, for example, pressing a key assigned to activation of guidance engine  100  ( FIG. 1 ), clicking on an icon of the guidance engine, selecting from a list of available guidance scripts, searching for and retrieving a desired guidance script, and/or the like. Alternatively, activity of the user may be tracked, to automatically determine if the user is experiencing difficulties with the operation of the application. If such a difficulty is identified, processing of method  200  may begin, in order to proactively provide the user with guidance as to the operation in which difficulties were encountered. 
     The capturing may include storing screenshot  204  or GUI  300  as an image, whether in a temporary memory or in a permanent, non-volatile memory. Reference is now parenthetically made to  FIG. 3 , which shows a GUI  300  of an illustrative computerized application, such as a word processing application. A GUI, such as GUI  300 , may include one or more controls (sometimes also referred to as “widgets”) that operate different functions of the application. Such controls may include, for example, icons (such as an icon  302 ), texts (such as a text  304 ), buttons (such as a “bold” button  306 ), input boxes (such as a “font” input box  308  and text area  310 ), menus, drop-down lists (such as a “font” drop-down list  312 ), scroll bars (such as a vertical scroll bar  314  and a horizontal scroll bar  316 ), sliders, bars and/or any other operable visual element. 
     A different GUI (not shown) may include a user interface of what is often referred to as a “console application” (also “command line”, “command prompt”, “text terminal”, “terminal” and/or the like). A console application may be a software application having a user interface composed mainly of text, and sometimes with the addition of some simple, minimalistic graphic elements and/or symbols. Console applications are usually designed for operation using a keyboard, although sometimes they may also be controlled using a pointing device such as a mouse. Due to their lack of extensive graphic elements, their GUI is often referred to simply as a “user interface” (UI), without the word “graphical”. However, the term GUI, as referred to herein, is intended to include also a UI of a console application. 
     Back to  FIG. 2 , a guidance script  208  may be provided. Guidance script  208  may include an executable operation sequence for operating the application. The operation sequence may include one or more step(s)  208   a , each step optionally containing an action pertaining to a GUI control (sometimes referred to simply as a “control”) of the application. With reference to GUI  300  of  FIG. 3 , as a mere example, a first step may include imitating a click on a “tab 1” control  320 , a second step may include imitating a click on a “bold” control  306 , a third step may include imitating a click on a “tab 2” control  322 , and a fourth step may include imitating text typing inside “text area” control  310 . Images of one or more GUI controls associated with actions of guidance script  208 , such as controls  320 ,  306 ,  322  and  310  of  FIG. 3 , may be provided with the guidance script. 
     Screenshot  204  may be analyzed in a block  206 , for identifying in it a control corresponding to a control of guidance script  208 . The analysis may be performed, for example, using screenshot analysis engine  102  ( FIG. 1 ). It may be performed on an original screenshot, such as a color screenshot, and/or on one or more modified screenshots, such as resized screenshots, portions of screenshots, grey-scaled screenshots or black-and-white (1-bit) versions of screenshots, inverted versions of screenshots or of grey-scaled screenshots or of black-and-white versions of screenshots, and/or the like. A modified screenshot may be produced using an image conversion module, a software component adapted to perform the required modification by way of image processing. 
     The analysis of screenshot  204  may include running an image recognition algorithm adapted to identify graphical and/or textual characteristics of a control in the screenshot, to enable a matching  210  of the control with a corresponding control of a step  208   a  of guidance script  208 . Graphical characteristics of a control may include visible external borderlines of the control. A simple case is when a control has a noticeable borderline. For example, in  FIG. 3 , a “paste” button  318  can be relatively easily distinguished from its surroundings, since its most peripheral areas include a continuous frame made of connected pixels. Sometimes, a text is associated with a graphical control, such as the word “text”  304  which appears below “paste” button  318  and is associated with it. The algorithm may identify “text”  304  and “paste” button  318  as associated, based on a pre-determined space between them that indicates their association. The space may range, for example, from 1 pixel to several or even dozens of pixels, depending on the situation. The algorithm may further determine if a text is associated with a graphical control by assigning different “weights” to texts based on their position relative to the graphical control. For example, text positioned on the right or left sides of the graphical control may be given a high weight, text positioned above the graphical control may be given a medium weight, and text positioned below the graphical control may be given a low weight. The higher the weight, the more likely it is that the text is associated with the graphical control. 
     Textual characteristics may be identified Optical Character Recognition (OCR) techniques, such as by locating “islands” of connected pixels, each island typically defining a single character (such as a letter, a number or a symbol); in some cases, such as the case of the letters “i” and “j”, each letter may be defined by two islands, while in further cases, any suitable character may be defined by multiple islands. A whole word may be identified by determining a series of characters positioned adjacently, where a space which follows a letter and which has the width of approximately one or two characters, may indicate a separation between two words. If the space is wider than a pre-determined value, it may indicate that the next word is not associated with the previous word or words, and is part of a separate control. 
     In the case of a console application UI, it is likely that OCR techniques will be more prevalent than determination of graphical characteristics of elements. That is, as mentioned, console applications usually include mainly text, and OCR techniques may be more suitable for analyzing console application UI in order to identify one or more controls in them. 
     Following the identification of a control in screenshot  204 , it may be matched  210  with a control of guidance script  208 , to enable guidance script execution engine  104  ( FIG. 1 ) to successfully execute  212  the guidance script and operate the actual control in the application, such as by clicking on it, by initiating a keyboard stroke or combination that trigger the control, and/or the like. However, in some scenarios, there may exist multiple controls in the application&#39;s GUI that look essentially the same. In such scenarios, in order to correctly match one of these GUI controls with the correct control of guidance script  208 , it may be necessary to analyze also the surroundings of the control (such as its adjacent controls and/or adjacent graphical elements), both in screenshot  204  and in guidance script  208 , so at to increase the chances of a correct matching. Matching controls are often likely to have similar surrounding controls and/or graphical elements. 
     In an embodiment, it may be possible to pre-define an accuracy level at which the matching is performed. A higher accuracy level is likely to be less tolerant to extreme changes in display properties between screenshot  204  and guidance script  208 , whereas a lower accuracy level may still allow matching under display property changes—but may also cause matching mistakes. Optionally, the accuracy level is defined in percentages. 
     In case the matching is unsuccessful, namely—no corresponding controls of screenshot  204  and guidance script  208  are found, screenshot analysis engine  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may be utilized for automatically activating one or more scroll bars, such as horizontal scroll bar  316  ( FIG. 3 ) and/or vertical scroll bar  314  ( FIG. 3 ), for scrolling to a previously-invisible region of the computerized application. For example, screenshot analysis engine  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may automatically scroll to previously-invisible regions of text area ( FIG. 3 ) for searching for a GUI control which may be a match for a control of guidance script  208 . Optionally, after the scrolling uncovers a new region, a screenshot of the GUI may be captured  202  again, and the analysis  206  and matching  210  steps may be repeated for the new region. 
     During the execution, in block  212 , of guidance script  208 , one or more help texts may be displayed in order to complement at least one of step(s)  208   a  with explanations to the user. For example, the execution may be performed in a semi-automatic mode, in which, following an automatic activation of a control, a help text is displayed, asking the user to perform a manual operation. Reference is now made back to  FIG. 3 , in which an exemplary help text  330  is shown inside an exemplary guide bubble  332 . Help text  330  requests the user to enter text into text area  310 . After the user enters the text, guidance script  208  ( FIG. 2 ) may proceed to a next step. Guidance script execution engine  104  of  FIG. 1  may be adapted to automatically detect when the user finished performing the manual operation. Additionally or alternatively, the user may be presented with a button (not shown), for example, on which he clicks to indicate to guidance script execution engine  104  of  FIG. 1  that he completed the manual operation and wishes to resume execution of the guidance script. 
     Recording a Display-Independent Computerized Guidance Script 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 4 , which shows a block diagram of a recording engine  400  for a display-independent, computerized guidance script, according to an embodiment. 
     Recording engine  400  may be a software product installed on and/or adapted to be run on a computerized device, such as a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a mobile game console, an essentially stationary game console, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a cellular phone, a hybrid device (for example a device incorporating functionalities of multiple types of devices, such as PDA functionality and cellular phone functionality), a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device and/or the like. 
     Recording engine  400  may be used for recording a guidance script, such as guidance script  208  of  FIG. 2 , where the guidance script is adapted to be later run on the same or a different computerized device. For example, a software developer or a software developing company may record a guidance script and distribute it to users for running on their computerized devices. 
     Recording engine  400  optionally includes a screenshot capture engine  402 , a screenshot analysis engine  404 , and/or an operation sequence recorder  406 , each being a software component and/or module or all being implemented as a single component and/or module.  FIG. 5  shows a flow chart of a method  500  (or an “algorithm”) for recording a display-independent, computerized guidance script; operation of recording engine  400  of  FIG. 4  shall now be described through an explanation of method  500  of  FIG. 5 . 
     At an overview of method  500 , an operation sequence in the computerized application is manually performed by a user in a block  502 . The operation sequence may include one or more step(s)  502   a , each step optionally containing an action pertaining to a GUI control of the application. With reference to GUI  300  of  FIG. 3 , as a mere example, a first step may include manually clicking on a “tab 1” control  320 , a second step may include manually clicking on a “bold” control  306 , a third step may include manually clicking on a “tab 2” control  322 , and a fourth step may include manually typing text inside “text area” control  310 . 
     In a block  504 , the operation sequence may be recorded, such as using operation sequence recorder  406  of  FIG. 4 . The recording may include a recording of actions such as a cursor click, a cursor move path, a keyboard input and/or the like. These actions may be performed either manually (by a user) or automatically, using software adapted to execute actions in the computerized application. Usage of such software may enable faster, more accurate and/or more efficient recording of an operation sequence, without the need for substantial human intervention. During the recording, one or more controls may be assigned, in a block  506 , to their respective steps  502   a . A guidance script including a recorded operation sequence and a control assigned to each step is produced in a block  516 . 
     The recording of the operation sequence in block  504  and the assigning of each control to a step in block  506 , may be performed based on actions on blocks 508-514, as set forth herein: 
     In a block  508 , a screenshot  510  of a GUI of a computerized application is captured, such as using screenshot capture engine  402  ( FIG. 4 ). The capturing may be performed responsive to step  502   a , such as following a cursor click, a keyboard input and/or the like by the user. 
     A position at which a cursor was at when performing the click, may be identified in screenshot  510 . For example, with reference to  FIG. 3 , a cursor  334  is shown positioned next to and clicking on a “tab 4” text  336 . Similarly, if a keyboard stroke is the manual operation by the user, a position of a control activated by the stroke may be detected. For example, if the keyboard combination ctrl+4 activates “tab 4” 336, the position of “tab 4” is detected and assumed. 
     In a block  512 , an area surrounding the determined cursor position is analyzed, such as by screenshot analysis engine  404  of  FIG. 4 . The analysis may enable identification  514  of a control on which the cursor click was performed or which the keyboard stroke activated. Optionally, screenshot analysis engine  404  of  FIG. 4  operates similar to screenshot analysis engine  102   FIG. 1 . Accordingly, the analysis of block  512  is performed similar to the analysis of block  206  of  FIG. 2 , as described above. 
     The identified control and/or its surrounding area may be saved as an image, and, as mentioned above, assigned  506  to step  502   a  of operation sequence  502  and optionally stored together with guidance script  516 . 
     To summarize method  500 , it is capable of producing guidance script  516  which is display-independent, namely—due to the storing of an image together with each step  502   a , it is later possible to execute the guidance script on a computerized device having different display properties that the computerized device of which the recording of method  500  is done. That is, the stored image may be matched, during the execution, with an identified control of the GUI of the computerized application on which the guidance script is executed. 
     Display-Independent Recognition of a GUI Control 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 6 , which shows a block diagram of a display-independent, GUI control recognizer  600 , according to an embodiment. 
     Control recognizer  600  may be a software product installed on and/or adapted to be run on a computerized device, such as a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a mobile game console, an essentially stationary game console, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a cellular phone, a hybrid device (for example a device incorporating functionalities of multiple types of devices, such as PDA functionality and cellular phone functionality), a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device and/or the like. 
     Control recognizer  600  may be used for recognizing and identifying a GUI control in a screenshot of a GUI of a computerized application. The use of control recognizer  600  may or may not be tied to execution and/or recording of a guidance script, as set forth above. For example, recognition of GUI controls may be used as general-purpose image recognition method, to complement other computerized operations as desired. 
     Control recognizer  600  optionally includes a screenshot capture engine  602 , a cursor position identifier  604  and/or a cursor position region analyzer  606 , each being a software component and/or module or all being implemented as a single component and/or module.  FIG. 7  shows a flow chart of a method  700  (or an “algorithm”) for display-independent recognition of a GUI control; operation of control recognizer  600  of  FIG. 6  shall now be described through an explanation of method  700  of  FIG. 7 . 
     In a block  702 , a screenshot  704  of a GUI of a computerized application is captured, such as using screenshot capture engine  602  ( FIG. 6 ). The capturing is optionally performed during an operation sequence performed by a user, namely, responsive to a cursor click, a keyboard input and/or the like by the user. 
     In an optional block  706 , a position at which a cursor was at when performing the click, if such a click was indeed performed, may be determined. This may be performed by cursor position identifier  604  of  FIG. 6 . For example, with reference to  FIG. 3 , a cursor  334  is shown positioned next to and clicking on a “tab 4” text  336 . Similarly, if a keyboard stroke was performed by the user, then a position of a control activated by the stroke may be detected. For example, if the keyboard combination ctrl+4 activates “tab 4” 336, the position of “tab 4” is detected and assumed. 
     In a block  708 , if actions of optional block  706  are performed, then an area surrounding the determined cursor position is analyzed, such as by cursor position region analyzer  606  of  FIG. 6 . The analysis may enable identification of a control on which the cursor click was performed or which the keyboard stroke activated. Optionally, cursor position region analyzer  606  of  FIG. 6  operates similar to screenshot analysis engine  102   FIG. 1 . Accordingly, the analysis of block  708  is performed similar to the analysis of block  206  of  FIG. 2 , as described above. 
     Alternatively, in block  708 , if actions of optional block  706  are not performed, then an area of screenshot  704  up to its entirety may be analyzed, such as by cursor position region analyzer  606  of  FIG. 6 . The analysis may enable identification of one or more controls existing in screenshot  704 . 
     In a block  710 , the identified control and/or its surrounding area may be stored as an image. The image of the control may then be used in another computerized process, application and/or the like, as desired. Advantageously, method  700  may enable the analysis of a GUI of a computerized application, in a manner enabling identification and extraction of individual controls from a screenshot of the GUI. 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 8 , which shows a block diagram of a display-independent scroll bar recognizer  800 . 
     Scroll bar recognizer  800  may be a software product installed on and/or adapted to be run on a computerized device, such as a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a mobile game console, an essentially stationary game console, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a cellular phone, a hybrid device (for example a device incorporating functionalities of multiple types of devices, such as PDA functionality and cellular phone functionality), a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device and/or the like. 
     Scroll bar recognizer  800  may be used for recognizing and identifying a scroll bar in a screenshot of a GUI of a computerized application. The use of scroll bar recognizer  800  may or may not be tied to execution and/or recording of a guidance script, as set forth above. For example, recognition of scroll bars may be used as general-purpose image recognition method, to complement other computerized operations as desired. 
     Scroll bar recognizer  800  optionally includes a screenshot capture engine  802  and a scroll bar analyzer  804 , each being a software component and/or module or both being implemented as a single component and/or module.  FIG. 9  shows a flow chart of a method  900  (or an “algorithm”) for display-independent recognition of a scroll bar; operation of scroll bar recognizer  800  of  FIG. 8  shall now be described through an explanation of method  900  of  FIG. 9 . 
     In a block  902 , a screenshot  904  of a GUI of a computerized application is captured, such as using screenshot capture engine  802  of  FIG. 8 . 
     In a block  906 , screenshot  904  is analyzed, in order to identify a scroll bar in a block  908 . The analysis may be performed by scroll bar analyzer  804  of  FIG. 8 . The analysis may include a search for a control (namely, the scroll bar) which complies with the common characteristics of a scroll bar, namely—the existence of a thumb, an elongated trough and one or more arrows. These characteristics may be better understood by returning to  FIG. 3 . Horizontal scroll bar  316 , for example, includes a thumb (sometimes referred to as a “bar”)  316   a , which is optionally an element adapted to be dragged (using a cursor and/or a keyboard) along an elongated trough  316   d . The dragging of thumb  316   a  may cause “scrolling”, namely, revelation of previously-invisible areas of text area  310 . For example, if thumb  316   a  is dragged to the right, a previously-invisible right area of text area  310  is revealed. A width (or height, in case of a vertical scroll bar) of thumb  316   a  is optionally reflective of the degree of zooming applied. A thumb that completely fills a trough indicates that the entire document is being viewed. Alternatively, scrolling may be achieved by clicking on an arrow, such as left arrow  316   b  or right arrow  316   c , of scroll bar  316 . Clicking on left arrow  316   b , for example, may reveal a previously-invisible left area of text area  310  and may move thumb  316   a  to the left. 
     The analysis may include a search for at least two elements of a scroll bar, namely, an arrow and a thumb. Optionally, the search is performed on a 1-bit and/or an inverted 1-bit version of screenshot  904 . An arrow may be identified by searching for a continuous island of connected pixels that form a triangular shape. A thumb may be identified by searching in an axis parallel to the pointing direction of the identified arrow. Each element found in that axis may be analyzed, and the existence of a thumb may be determined if an essentially quadrangular island of connected pixels is found. An essentially empty space (represented by an island of connected pixels having the reverse color of the thumb) between the arrow and the thumb may resemble a trough. 
     Alternatively, the at least two elements searched for may be two arrows of opposing directions, lying on the same axis, which is parallel to their pointing directions. 
     In a block  910 , the identified scroll bar is analyzed, to extract at least one parameter of it in a block  912 . The analysis of the scroll bar may include a determination of one or more of the following parameters: a location of the scroll bar, a size of the scroll bar, a location of a thumb of the scroll bar, a size of a thumb of the scroll bar, a size of an arrow of the scroll bar and a location of an arrow of the scroll bar. Each of these sizes may be denoted in pixels, horizontally and/or vertically. Each of these locations may be denoted as X-Y coordinates of the scroll bar, the thumb or the arrow in relation to the entirety of the GUI. 
     Optionally, following the extraction of the above parameter(s), the scroll bar may be automatically operated for scrolling. For example, its thumb may be dragged and/or its arrows may be clicked for revealing a previously-invisible area of the GUI. 
     While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced be interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their true spirit and scope. 
     In the description and claims of the application, each of the words “comprise” “include” and “have”, and forms thereof, are not necessarily limited to members in a list with which the words may be associated.