Patent ID: 7562305

Claim:
A commanding system for a computer, comprising: a memory storing: a binding table that connects input to associated action, wherein the associated action corresponds to a node of a hierarchical tree, at least one binding entry in the binding table including a command binding that identifies an input sequence from an input device that is received to be acted upon, a command that identifies an intent of the input sequence, a command handler that is a pointer to a portion of code that is executed to implement the action that is to be performed based upon the input sequence, and an interface binding that identifies a menu position on a menu; and a processor in data communication with the memory, the processor programmed to: query each binding entry in the binding table; receive the interface binding associated with the binding; and automatically build the menu based on the interface binding, wherein automatically building the menu comprises the processor being programmed to, traverse the hierarchical tree to connect the input sequence to the associated action via the command binding, when the command binding is not found, bubble and tunnel the input sequence to a next higher or lower node in the hierarchical tree, and upon subsequent generation of the menu, include additional commanding information added to a control level without requiring changes to be made to a plurality of different applications, wherein the commanding information is provided by control elements that are common among the plurality of applications, and include at least a core set of commands provided by the control elements.