Integrated of a third party software tool

Claim 3

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: reading a WorkSet of references to at least one recently used object; and populating said integrated menu and said third-party menu with least one reference.

Claim 4

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving a command that alters at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu; and altering the at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu based on said command received in the receiving step.

Claim 5

The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of altering comprises at least one of a) adding an entry to the one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu, b) removing an entry from said at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu, and c) reordering entries on said at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu.

Claim 6

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving a message from said integrated environment application; and updating said third-party menu based on the message received from said integrated environment application.

Claim 7

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving a message from said third-party environment application; and updating said integrated menu based on the message received from said third-party environment application.

Claim 8

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving a message from a second third-party environment application; and updating said integrated menu based on the message received from said third-party environment application.

Claim 9

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving a message from a second integrated environment application; and updating said integrated menu of said first integrated environment application based on the message received from the second integrated environment application.

Claim 12

The system according to claim 9, wherein said environment manager further comprises: a reader configured to read a WorkSet of references to at least one recently used object; and a menu update device configured to populate said integrated menu and said third-party menu with at least one reference read by the reader.

Claim 13

The system according to claim 9, wherein said command receiver comprises a receiver configured to receive a command that alters at least one of the integrated menu and the third-party menu; and wherein said environment manager further comprises a menu update device configured to alter at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu based on the command received by the receiver.

Claim 14

The system according to claim 11, wherein said menu update device comprises at least one of: a) an entry adder configured to add an entry to said at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu; b) an entry remover configured to remove an entry the at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu; and c) a reordering device configured to reorder entries on said at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu.

Claim 15

The system according to claim 9, wherein said environment manager further comprises: a message receiver configured to receive a message from said integrated environment application; and an update device configured to update said third-party menu based on the message received from said integrated environment application.

Claim 16

The system according to claim 9, wherein said environment manager further comprises: a message receiver configured to receive a message from said third-party environment application; and an update device configured to update said integrated menu based on the message received from said third-party environment application.

Claim 17

The system according to claim 9, wherein said environment manager further comprises: a message receiver configured to receive a message from a second third-party environment application; and an update device configured to update said third-party menu of said third-party environment application based on the message received from the second third-party environment application.

Claim 18

The system according to claim 9, wherein said environment manager further comprises: a message receiver configured to receive a message from a second integrated environment application; and an update device configured to update said integrated menu of said integrated environment application based on the message received from the second integrated environment application.

Claim 19

A computer program product, comprising: a computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to integrate an integrated environment application and a third-party environment application with an environment manager, the environment manager having a graphical user interface (GUI) including an icon palette with an integrated icon corresponding to the integrated environment application and further including a menu bar with an integrated menu for the integrated environment application, the computer code mechanism comprising: a first computer code device configured to add an icon for the third-party environment application to the icon palette; a second computer code device configured to add a third-party menu to the menu bar for the third-party environment application; a third computer code device configured to receive a command from a user based on an interaction with at least one of the icon palette, the integrated menu and the third-party menu; a fourth computer code device configured to launch at least one of the integrated environment application and the third-party environment application; and a fifth computer code mechanism configured to store a WorkSet of references to at least one recently used object in a non-volatile storage medium.

Claim 20

A computer program product, comprising: a computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to integrate an integrated environment application and a third-party environment application with an environment manager, the environment manager having a graphical user interface (GUI) including an icon palette with an integrated icon corresponding to the integrated environment application and further including a menu bar with an integrated menu for the integrated environment application, the computer code mechanism comprising: a first computer code device configured to add an icon for the third-party environment application to the icon palette; a second computer code device configured to add a third-party menu to the menu bar for the third-party environment application; a third computer code device configured to receive a command from a user based on an interaction with at least one of the icon palette, the integrated menu and the third-party menu; a fourth computer code device configured to launch at least one of the integrated environment application and the third-party environment application; and a fifth computer code mechanism configured to store a WorkSet of references to at least one recently used object in a non-volatile storage medium.

Claim 21

The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said computer program code mechanism further comprises: a sixth computer code mechanism configured to read said WorkSet of references to said at least one recently used object; and a seventh computer code mechanism configured to populate at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu with said references read by the sixth computer code device.

Claim 22

The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said third computer code device comprises a sixth computer code device configured to receive a command that alters at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu; and wherein said computer code mechanism further comprises a sixth computer code device configured to alter at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu based on the command received by the sixth computer code device.

Claim 23

The computer program product according to claim 19, wherein said sixth computer code device comprises at least one of: a seventh computer code device configured to add an entry to said at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu; an eighth computer code device configured to remove an entry to said at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu; and a ninth computer code device configured to reorder entries on said at least one of said integrated menu and said third-party menu.

Claim 24

The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said computer code mechanism further comprises: a sixth computer code device configured to receive a message from said integrated environment application; and a seventh computer code mechanism configured to update said third-party menu based on the message received from said integrated environment application.

Claim 25

The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said computer code mechanism further comprises: a sixth computer code device configured to receive a message from said third-party environment application; and a seventh computer code mechanism configured to update said integrated menu based on the message received from said third-party environment application.

Claim 26

The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said computer code mechanism further comprises: a sixth computer code device configured to receive a message from a second third-party environment application; and a seventh computer code device configured to update said third-party menu of said first third-party environment application based on the message received from the second third-party environment application.

Claim 27

The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said computer code mechanism further comprises: a sixth computer code device configured to receive a message from a second integrated environment application; and a seventh computer code device configured to update said integrated menu of said first integrated environment application based on the message received from the second integrated environment application.