Patent ID: 7512895

Claim:
A software activity status tracking system comprising: a processor; and a memory accessible to the processor, the memory comprising: a progress updater configured to update one or more data structures, embodied in one or more processor-readable media, the one or more data structures configured to track status information of multiple software activities as the status information of one or more software activities changes; a progress renderer configured to: select a sub-set of all available status information regarding the multiple status-tracked software activities for display via an output mechanism for viewing by a user, wherein selecting a sub-set of all available status information regarding the multiple status-tracked software activities includes determining a rendering style specified by a particular software activity, wherein the specified rendering style is one of a group of multiple rendering styles comprising a full rendering style which indicates the display of all status information for a software activity with such a determined rendering style; an invisible rendering style which indicates the display of no status information for a software activity with such a determined rendering style; and one or more others which indicate the display of an amount of status information somewhere between the full rendering style and the invisible rendering style for a software activity having such a determined rendering style; determine whether status information of the particular software activity can be rendered according to the rendering style specified by the particular software activity; render the status information of the particular software activity according to the specified rendering style when the status information of the particular software activity can be rendered according to the specified rendering style; and render the status information of the particular software activity according to a different rendering style when the status information of the particular software activity cannot be rendered according to the specified rendering style.