Flow state totals and auto flow warehousing

• US 10,001,908 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2014
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Grieve, Richard Stephen, Hogg, Martin, Lord, Simon Leaver, O'Neill, Conor, Steadman, James, Chesney, Adam, Karmakar, Suman, Vangasse, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Santos, Pedro J
• Application Number:
  US14/174,835
• Publication Number:
  US 20150066856A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,594 Days
• Field of Search: 707639
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/221 Column-oriented storage; Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2456 Join operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

A computing device can automatically generate a flow diagram showing statuses that objects in a system can possess, and the possible transitions between these statuses. Using snapshots of database data, the device can determine how the statuses of these objects have changed over time. The device can analyze the data to suggest which database fields likely represent object status. The device can render the flow diagram to illustrate system states at different selected times. Each rendered flow diagram can indicate, for the selected time point, the quantity of objects that possessed each status at that time, and, for a selected time interval, the quantity of objects that changed from each status to each other status during that time interval. The statuses can be represented in the flow diagram as status bubbles having sizes that are based on the quantities of objects having those bubble'"'"'s statuses at the selected time point.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, from a database, a set of statuses in a workflow;

rendering, on a display, a graphical user interface (GUI) including a first region and a flow region, wherein the first region shows a graphical element for each status in the set of statuses;

in response to a first user input, moving a first graphical element representing a first status from the first region to the flow region;

in response to a second user input, moving a second graphical element representing a second status from the first region to the flow region;

determining, from the database, a first set of objects possessing the first status at a first point in time;

updating the GUI to include a first visual aspect of the first graphical element, the first visual aspect indicating a first quantity of objects in the first set of objects possessing the first status at the first point in time;

in response to a third user input specifying a second point in time that is after the first point in time;

determining, from the first set of objects, a second set of objects possessing the second status at the second point in time;

determining, from the first set of objects, a third set of objects possessing the first status at the second point in time;

adjusting the first graphical element such that the first visual aspect of the first graphical element indicates a third quantity of objects in the third set of objects possessing the first status at the second point in time; and

updating the GUI to include a second visual aspect that indicates a second quantity of objects in the second set of objects possessing the second status at the second point in time; and

in response to a fourth user input linking the first graphical element and the second graphical element together in the flow region;

updating the GUI to include a third graphical element with a third visual aspect that indicates a movement of objects that have a change in status from the first set of objects at the first point in time indicated by the first graphical element to the second set of objects at the second point in time indicated by the second graphical element;

wherein the adjusted first graphical element, the second graphical element, and the third graphical element are displayed concurrently in the flow region.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first visual aspect of the first graphical element includes a size of the first graphical element, the size corresponding to a quantity of objects possessing the first status.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically generating snapshots of the database respectively at the first point in time and at the second point in time;

automatically storing the snapshots of the database within a data warehouse that is separate from the database;

querying a first snapshot of the snapshots of the database to obtain the first set of objects, wherein the first snapshot is associated with the first point in time;

querying a second snapshot of the snapshots of the database to obtain a fourth set of objects, wherein the second snapshot is associated with the second point in time; and

obtaining the third set of objects from the first set of objects and the fourth set of objects based on one or more object identifiers common between the first set of objects and the fourth set of objects.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusted first graphical element is rendered adjacent to the second graphical element;

and

wherein the third graphical element is rendered as a connection element connecting the adjusted first graphical element with the second graphical element.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the first graphical element includes a first bar chart that shows a history of a quantity of objects possessing the first status with respect to time;

and

wherein the second graphical element includes a second bar chart that shows a history of a quantity of objects possessing the second status with respect to time.

4. A computer-implemented method comprising:

rendering, on a display device, a graphical user interface (GUI) including a flow region showing a plurality of graphical elements, each graphical element representing a status of a workflow;

in response to a first user input linking a first graphical element representing a first status and a second graphical element representing a second status together in the flow region, updating the GUI to include a diagram indicating movement from the first graphical element to the second graphical element;

determining, from a database, a first set of objects associated with the first status at a first time point;

determining, from the database, a second set of objects associated with the second status at the first time point;

displaying, on the display device, the diagram showing the first graphical element, such that a size of the first graphical element is based on a first quantity of the first set of objects;

displaying, on the display device and together on the diagram with the first graphical element, the second graphical element such that a size of the second graphical element is based on a second quantity of the second set of objects;

in response to receiving a second user input specifying a second time point that is after the first time point;

determining, from the first set of objects, a third set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point;

determining, from the first set of objects, a fourth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point;

determining, from the second set of objects, a fifth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point;

determining, from the second set of objects, a sixth set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point;

updating the size of the displayed first graphical element to reflect a first total quantity of the fourth set of objects and the fifth set of objects at the second time point; and

updating the size of the displayed second graphical element to reflect a second total quantity of the third set of objects and the sixth set of objects at the second time point.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving the second user input from a timeline displayed in the GUI; and

based on the receiving the second user input, (1) determining the first total quantity of the fourth set of objects and the fifth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point and (2) determining the second total quantity of the third set of objects and the sixth set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein (1) determining the first total quantity of the fourth set of objects and the fifth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point or (2) determining the second total quantity of the third set of objects and the sixth set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point comprises:

querying at least one database snapshot of a plurality of database snapshots, the at least one database snapshot containing data that corresponds to the second time point;

wherein each database snapshot of the plurality of database snapshots was generated as a part of an operation that periodically creates a backup of a transactional database.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein querying the at least one database snapshot comprises selecting, from multiple columns of tabular data stored within the at least one database snapshot, only data contained within one or more columns that were automatically determined, without human intervention, and based on specified criteria, that represent object status.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, from a first user, a third user input that associates first user-selected text with a third time point;

storing the first user-selected text in association with the third time point;

showing the first user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects associated with the third time point; and

hiding the first user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects that are not associated with the third time point.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein receiving the third user input that associates the first user-selected text with the third time point comprises receiving the third user input during display of the graphical element reflecting the quantity of objects associated with the third time point, wherein storing of the first user-selected text in association with the third time point is performed in response to the third user input being received during the display of the graphical element reflecting the quantity of objects associated with the third time point.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, from a second user separate from the first user, through a computing device other than a computing device through which the first user-selected text was received, a fourth user input that associates second user-selected text with a fourth time point that differs from the third time point;

storing the second user-selected text in association with the fourth time point;

showing the second user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects associated with the fourth time point; and

hiding the second user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects that are not associated with the fourth time point.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

rendering, on a display device, a graphical user interface (GUI) including a flow region showing a plurality of graphical elements, each graphical element representing a status of a workflow;

in response to a first user input linking a first graphical element representing a first status and a second graphical element representing a second status together in the flow region, updating the GUI to include a diagram indicating movement from the first graphical element to the second graphical element;

determining, from a database a first set of objects associated with the first status at a first time point;

determining, from the database, a second set of objects associated with the second status at the first time point;

displaying, on the display device, the diagram showing the first graphical element such that a size of the first graphical element is based on a first quantity of the first set of objects;

displaying, on the display device and together on the diagram with the first graphical element, the second graphical element such that a size of the second graphical element is based on a second quantity of the second set of objects;

in response to receiving a second user input specifying a second time point that is after the first time point;

determining, from the first set of objects, a third set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point;

determining, from the first set of objects, a fourth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point;

determining, from the second set of objects, a fifth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point;

determining, from the second set of objects, a sixth set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point;

updating the size of the displayed first graphical element to reflect a first total quantity of the fourth set of objects and the fifth set of objects at the second time point; and

updating the size of the displayed second graphical element to reflect a second total quantity of the third set of objects and the sixth set of objects.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, the operations further comprising:

receiving the second user input from a timeline displayed in the GUI; and

based on receiving the second user input, (1) determining the first total quantity of the fourth set of objects and the fifth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point and (2) determining the second total quantity of the third set of objects and the sixth set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein:

(1) determining the first total quantity of the fourth set of objects and the fifth set of objects associated with the first status at the second time point or (2) determining the second total quantity of the third set of objects and the sixth set of objects associated with the second status at the second time point comprises;

querying at least one database snapshot of a plurality of database snapshots, the at least one database snapshot containing data that corresponds to the second time point.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein each database snapshot of the plurality of database snapshots was generated as a part of an operation that periodically creates a backup of a transactional database.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein querying the at least one database snapshot comprises selecting, from multiple columns of tabular data stored within the at least one database snapshot, only data contained within one or more columns that were automatically determined, without human intervention, and based on specified criteria, that represent object status.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from a first user, a third user input that associates first user-selected text with a third time point;

storing the first user-selected text in association with the third time point;

showing the first user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects associated with the third time point; and

hiding the first user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects that are not associated with the third time point.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein receiving the third user input that associates the first user-selected text with the third time point comprises receiving the third user input during display of the graphical element reflecting the quantity of objects associated with the third time point, wherein storing of the first user-selected text in association with the third time point is performed in response to the first user input being received during the display of the graphical element reflecting the quantity of objects associated with the third time point.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, said operations further comprising:

receiving, from a second user separate from the first user, through a computing device other than a computing device through which the first user-selected text was received, a fourth user input that associates second user-selected text with a fourth time point that differs from the third time point;

storing the second user-selected text in association with the fourth time point;

showing the second user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects associated with the fourth time point; and

hiding the second user-selected text during display of a graphical element reflecting a quantity of objects that are not associated with the fourth time point.