System and method for identifying operations based on selected data

• US 10,001,977 B1
• Filed: 06/05/2009
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Inventors: Owen, James Gareth, Gaudagnini Wey, Claudia
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Henry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bartels, Christopher
• Application Number:
  US12/479,585
• Time in Patent Office: 3,301 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/33 Intelligent editors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

A system and method identifies a set of operations or tasks, such as functions, of a programming system or technical computing environment based on a selection of input data. The technical computing environment may have a plurality of operations that may be called and executed. The operations may operate on one or more input arguments that may need to satisfy certain constraints. Upon selection of input data, a matching engine may classify the input data, and compare the classifications of the input data to the input argument constraints of a plurality of operations. The matching engine may identify those operations whose input argument constraints are satisfied by the selected input data, as well as those operations whose input argument constraints are not satisfied by the selected input data. The matching and non-matching operations may be provided to an action unit, which may be configured to perform some task or action with regard to some or all of the operations.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

for a plurality of operations, each operation defined to operate on one or more input arguments including one or more constraints,

receiving input data;

identifying, by a first processor, a first operation in which the input data satisfies the one or more constraints of the one or more input arguments of the first operation;

identifying, by the first or a second processor, a second operation in which the input data does not satisfy the one or more constraints of the one or more input arguments of the second operation;

presenting, on a display coupled to the first or the second processor, the first operation in a form selectable for execution by a user based on the input data satisfying the one or more constraints of the one or more input arguments of the first operation;

presenting on the display the second operation in a form that is non-selectable for execution by the user based on the input data not satisfying the one or more constraints of the one or more input arguments of the second operation;

executing, by the first, the second or a third processor, the first operation utilizing the input data; and

presenting a result of the executing of the first operation on the display.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting, on the display, in connection with the second operation help information indicating why the input data does not conform to the one or more constraints on the one or more input arguments of the second operation.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting, on the display, a help window associated with the second operation, the help window containing an indication of data that satisfies the one or more constraints on the one or more input arguments of the second operation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of operations includes plotting functions.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein

a group of operations from the plurality of operations is identified where the input data satisfies the one or more constraints on the one or more input arguments of each operation in the group of operations, and

at least one operation from the group of operations is presented on the display in a popup window.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

presenting a result window on the display, the result window containing a result of the executing the first operation; and

maintaining, on the display, the popup window together with the result window.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein each operation in the group of operations appears as an entry in the popup window, the method further comprising:

presenting, on the display, a programming window; and

inserting, in the programming window, programming code for executing a given operation from the group of operations in response to the entry for the given operation being dragged from the popup window and dropped into the programming window, or in response to the entry for the given operation being copied from the popup window and pasted into the programming window.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein each operation in the group of operations is identified as a favorite operation by the user.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second operations are presented in a popup window, the method further comprising:

presenting, on the display, a programming window; and

receiving, in the programming window, programming code corresponding to the first operation or the second operation in response to the first operation or the second operation being dragged from the popup window and dropped into the programming window, or in response to the first operation or the second operation being copied from the popup window and pasted into the programming window.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the

programming code for the first operation is executable, and

the programming code for the second operation requires editing to be executable.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein a group of operations from the plurality of operations is identified where the input data satisfies the one or more constraints on the one or more input arguments of each operation in the group of operations, and each operation of the group has at least one of a name, a description, and documentation, the method further comprising:

receiving from the user a search string; and

presenting on the display only those operations from the group of operations having the name, the description or the documentation that matches the search string from the user.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein a group of operations from the plurality of operations is identified where the input data does not satisfy the one or more constraints on the one or more input arguments of each operation in the group of operations, and each operation of the group has at least one of a name, a description, and documentation, the method further comprising:

receiving from the user a search string; and

presenting on the display only those operations from the group of operations having the name, the description or the documentation that matches the search string from the user.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein

the input data has a property, and

an appearance of the first operation as presented on the display depends on the property of the input data.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from the user, one or more condition statements for identifying whether the input data satisfies the one or more input argument constraints of the first operation.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from the user, one or more condition statements for customizing at least one of an icon, a description and documentation for the first or the second operation.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the first operation has at least two input arguments, the method further comprising:

presenting on the display a label associated with the first operation, the label indicating a mapping of the input data to the at least two input arguments of the first operation.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

presenting on the display a control icon associated with the first operation; and

altering, in response to the user selecting the control icon, the mapping of the input data to the at least two input arguments of the first operation.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the input data is user-selected.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of operations include one or more operations, functions, scripts and programs.

20. A system comprising:

a display; and

at least one processor configured to;

receive input data,

determine that the input data is compatible with a first data-dependent task,

display the first data-dependent task in an enabled for execution mode based on the input data being compatible with the first data-dependent task, and

display a second data-dependent task in a disabled for execution mode based on the input data not being compatible with the second data-dependent task.

21. A data processing device comprising:

a plurality of executable operations, each defined to produce one or more output arguments as one or more functions of one or more input arguments, at least one of the one or more input arguments having to meet an input argument constraint for the respective operation to execute;

a display; and

at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to;

receive input data,

identify a first operation having a first input argument constraint that is compatible with the input data,

identify a second operation having a second input argument constraint that is incompatible with the input data;

present, on the display, the first operation in a form selectable for execution by a user based on the input data being compatible with the first input argument constraint of the first operation,

present, on the display, the second operation in a form that is non-selectable for execution by the user based on the input data being incompatible with the second input argument constraint of the second operation, execute the first operation utilizing the input data, and

present a result of the executing of the first operation on the display.

22. The data processing device of claim 21 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

present, on the display, in connection with the second operation help information indicating why the one or more second input argument constraints of the second operation are incompatible with the input data.

23. The data processing device of claim 21 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

identify a group of operations from the plurality of executable operations wherein each operation of the group of operations has a particular input argument constraint that is compatible with the input data, and

present at least one operation from the group of operations on the display in a popup window.

24. The data processing device of claim 23 wherein each operation in the group of operations is identified as a favorite operation by the user.

25. The data processing device of claim 21 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

identify a group of operations from the plurality of executable operations having a particular input argument constraint that is compatible with the input data, each operation of the group having at least one of a name, a description, and documentation,

receive from the user a search string; and

present on the display only those operations from the group of operations having the name, the description or the documentation that matches the received search string.

26. A method comprising:

a plurality of operations, each operation defined to operate on one or more input arguments including one or more input argument constraints;

assigning a respective classification algorithm to a first operation and a second operation of the plurality of operations, wherein the classification algorithms output either true or false;

receiving data;

evaluating the classification algorithms utilizing the received data;

identifying, by a first processor, the first operation for which the assigned respective classification algorithm evaluates to true;

identifying, by the first or a second processor, the second operation for which the assigned respective classification algorithm evaluates to false;

presenting, on a display, the first operation in a form selectable for execution by a user based on the respective classification algorithm assigned to the first operation evaluating to true;

presenting, on the display, the second operation in a form that is non-selectable for execution by a user based on the respective classification algorithm assigned to the second operation evaluating to false;

executing, by the first, the second or a third processor, the first operation assigned the respective classification algorithm that evaluates to true utilizing the data; and

presenting a result of the executing of the first operation assigned the respective classification algorithm that evaluates to true on the display.

27. One or more non-transitory, computer-readable storage mediums with an executable program stored thereon, where the program instructs processing logic to:

a plurality of executable operations, each operation defined to operate on one or more input arguments including one or more input argument constraints;

receive a selection of input data;

identify a first operation in which the input data satisfies the input argument constraint of the first operation;

identify a second operation in which the input data a does not satisfy the input argument constraint of the second operation;

present, on a display coupled to the processing logic, the first operation in a form selectable for execution by a user based on the input data satisfying the input argument constraint of the first operation;

present, on the display coupled to the processing logic, the second operation in a form that is non-selectable for execution by the user based on the input data not satisfying the input argument constraint of the second operation;

execute the first operation utilizing the input data, and

present a result of the executing of the first operation on the display.