Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-26
2004-07-06
Nguyen, Cao Kevin (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06760047
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a method and user interface mechanism to relate information from multiple heterogeneous data sources in a computer system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Information systems frequently consist of multiple heterogeneous data sources such as information repositories, financial and human resources systems, customer and sales tracking applications and the like. In this regard, enterprise decision makers often have to relate information from these multiple heterogeneous data sources in order to analyze a business situation and to act upon it. For example, a decision maker might wish to quickly know which of a set of employees not only has a background in aeronautical engineering but also has experience with aeronautical engineering company projects for the purpose of making a staffing decision for an important research and development project. Even with access to a multi-dimensional database of human resources information, a decision-maker may not know how to isolate such a subset of employees. For another example, a decision maker may wish to see a list of distributors that are distributing a particular enterprise product. In this case, with access to merely a database list of distributors and associated products, it may be difficult for a decision-maker to quickly isolate the distributors for a particular product.
Currently, to perform these types of data inquiries to display desired information, most decision support tools are based on a relational, multi-dimensional or similar representation. The analysis of information is performed through query execution with successive visualization of the results. However, this approach requires a deep understanding by the user of the operations that can be applied including an understanding of how data can be filtered and joined and an understanding of how to interpret the visualized results. For example, this type of process might include forming and typing queries with join and filter criteria in order to retrieve data from one or more data sources. This in turn requires a specialist to form the query, who understands the nature of the data source(s) and the nature of the query syntax. With respect to the examples given above, it may be necessary to employ a software engineer that understands database programming languages in order to isolate the list of employees for the aeronautical engineering staffing project or the list of distributors that distribute a particular product.
However, because analysis of business data and making decisions based on such an analysis is becoming more and more of a mainstream task in organizations, it is no longer desirable to restrict the performance of these types of tasks to a class of specialists with the technical skills necessary to perform the queries. Hence, there is a strong need for an easy and flexible way for decision makers to join and filter information from multiple data sources and to visualize the results without having to learn complex tools or query languages.
Computer systems that interact with the user commonly offer a user interface based on multiple windows that can represent applications or data. Windows can be opened, closed, moved, sized, juxtaposed and/or overlapped. Each window represents a region where information can be displayed.
The World Wide Web and hypertext pages have made the browser an important part of a user experience. A browser displays hypertext pages in a window most commonly written in HTML. Pages may include embedded components (regions) such as HTML frames, ActiveX controls, or Java applets, each of which occupy a part of the visible page and are able to display information independently.
Current browser-based user interfaces, such as Microsoft®'s Digital Dashboard, have taken this approach further by defining Web Parts in browser pages (Dashboards) in which information can be streamed independently. The user is able to arrange such Web Parts (regions) in a preferred layout. Essentially, instead of opening multiple instances of a browser, which a user may toggle among for viewing purposes, the Digital Dashboard enables the user to interact with multiple Web parts, browser windows or the like simultaneously as part of a unified user experience.
The user interface paradigms described above and similar approaches are based on defining individual regions on a user screen, each of which can display information. Each region can represent information from a different data source in a different format.
FIG. 1A
, for example, shows an example of the visualization of data from heterogeneous sources in different regions of a user interface. Region
2
, labeled “Customer,” displays information from a database with customer related information. In a similar way, Region
4
, labeled “Geography,” displays information about the geographical regions in which customers may reside. Region
1
and Region
3
, labeled “Sales Cube” and “Sales Chart” respectively, display information coming from a multi-dimensional database. These regions may display information in different textual, multimedia or graphical representations. These regions may also be positioned fixed relative to each other or positioned individually by the user.
Thus, regions represent sets of information that can either be independent of each other or in a pre-computed relationship. In order for the user to easily join and filter information and to influence the relationship of information in the different regions in such a computer system, a user interface mechanism is needed.
One prior art system that addresses this need is U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,424, to Scheinkman et al. (the '424 patent). The '424 patent teaches an improved hypertext navigation system. A browser displays hypertext pages and indicates draggable elements on the page being viewed. The browser also displays drop targets and detects when a user selects a draggable element and drops the draggable element over a drop target. The browser and/or server to which it is connected examine a class relation matrix having entries for intersections of draggable element references and drop target references in which a matrix entry at an intersection of the draggable element and drop target is identified and used for performing an action which is a function of the matrix entry.
FIG. 1B
generally illustrates the dragging aspect of the technique of the '424 patent in the context of the multiple data sources of FIG.
1
A. In the example, draggable element DE
1
, labeled “Southern,” can be dragged to drop target DT
2
, thereby causing the class relation matrix to be examined, and causing only Southern customer names (not shown) to be displayed in drop target zone DT
2
. However, this prior art technique suffers from a number of failings. For example, once draggable element DE
1
is dropped into drop target DT
2
, it is impossible to tell from the information presented which draggable element(s) have been dropped into any particular drop target, such as DT
2
. Thus, in the example, it is not apparent from the information presented that DE
1
was dropped into DT
2
, unless the user remembers which draggable element(s) were dragged to which drop target(s). While it might be simple enough to remember the dragging of a single draggable element DE
1
to a single drop target DT
2
, the situation becomes much more complex when multiple draggable element(s) and/or multiple drop target(s) are considered. Thus, the '424 patent does not teach to convey the context of the information being presented, and thus after awhile, a user may no longer fully appreciate the context of the information being presented.
Furthermore, with the system taught by the '424 patent, there is no way to undrag a draggable element DE
1
from a drop target DT
2
, once it has been dropped. While a user may reset the information being presented to its original state, to a time before any draggable elements were dragged, this is wholly inadequate as a solution to the inability to undrag a draggable element, except in the case o
Begstraesser Thomas F.
Carlson Jason D.
Hough P. J.
Microsoft Corporation
Nguyen Cao (Kevin)
Woodcock & Washburn LLP
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