Patent ID: 8166491

Claim:
A method, comprising: during execution of a first application program in which a user interacts with the first application program, executing a launchpad service that invokes a second application program, wherein the first and second application programs include user interfaces to execute database transactions; in response to the user interface of the first application program being refreshed: determining a state of the launchpad service based on the refreshed user interface, displaying one or more launchpad control elements, depending on the determined state of the launchpad service, along with the refreshed user interface; in response to one of the one or more launchpad control elements being activated by an operator: initiating execution of the second application program referenced by the activated launchpad control element, and advancing execution of the second application program to a processing stage determined by the activated launchpad control element, including communicating to the second application program a plurality of parameter values determined based on a selected element of the refreshed user interface of the first application program other than the activated launchpad control element; displaying a first configuration interface to the user; and receiving a first configuration input from the user at the first configuration interface to at least in part define a plurality of states of the launchpad service, including their correspondence to the user and different configurations of the user interface of the first application.