Patent ID: 7290216

Claim:
A method for enabling a user interface manager to modify a scene graph for an application, comprising: receiving the scene graph for the application, wherein the scene graph defines visual attributes for a user interface associated with application; using the scene graph to render a visual output for the user interface; displaying the visual output for the user interface to a user of the application; and modifying the scene graph through the user interface manager, whereby the user interface manager can produce visual effects for the user interface in addition to visual effects produced by the application; wherein modifying the scene graph through the user interface manager involves adding a lower-level branch graph to the scene graph to produce a unified scene graph; wherein the lower-level branch graph is associated with a second application; and wherein adding the lower-level branch graph to the scene graph additionally involves providing a security mechanism which can be used to restrict the application from accessing the lower-level branch graph associated with the second application.