Patent ID: 7349893

Claim:
At least one computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a method of processing a query requesting user interface information related to a target user interface hierarchy comprising a plurality of user interface elements in a second process, the method comprising: with a first query broker associated with a first process, creating a query, the creating comprising: 1) specifying a type of result to be returned in response to the query, and 2) specifying query parameters for determining the plurality of elements of the target user interface hierarchy whose user interface information is to be examined for collecting the specified type of query result; with the first query broker, directing the query to a second query broker associated with the target user interface hierarchy using a single cross-process call; with the first query broker, receiving results of the query from the second query broker, the results returned in a single cross-process call; and with the first process, programmatically accessing at least one of the plurality of user interface elements of the second process using at least a portion of the results of the query.