Systems, methods, and apparatuses for implementing analytics on demand functionality

• US 10,089,407 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2014
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Deshpande, Suyog Anil, Bigelow, Keith D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Loc
• Application Number:
  US14/491,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20150088851A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,473 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents

Abstract

In accordance with disclosed embodiments, there are provided systems, methods, and apparatuses for implementing analytics on-demand functionality. An exemplary system may include, for example: means for storing a plurality of objects within a database of the system, each object having a database table embodied therein; maintaining a data repository of custom report types, each custom report type defining a mapping between two or more of the database tables; means for receiving a request from a user client device communicably interfaced to the system, in which the request is for analytics data responsive to a user initiated event originating at the user client device; means for introspecting the data repository of custom report types and identifying one or more visualizations to be returned to the user client device for display; means for restricting the identified one or more visualizations by context of the user client device passed with the request from the user client device; and means for returning the one or more visualizations identified to the user client device. Other related embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor and a memory to execute instructions at the system;

a database system to store a plurality of objects each object having a database table stored therein;

a data repository of custom report types each of which define a mapping between two or more of the database tables;

a request interface to receive a request from a user client device for analytics data responsive to a user initiated event;

an analytics platform hosted at the system to execute via the processor and the memory of the system, wherein the analytics platform enables on-demand selection and rendering of a data visualization triggered by a user selection specified by the request from the user client device without requiring the user to pre-identify a report to be provided as the data visualization in fulfillment of the request;

wherein the analytics platform additionally receives a context identifying at least the user having submitted the request and one or more objects being referenced at the user client device at the time of the user initiated event;

wherein the analytics platform is to further examine the data repository of custom report types and identify one or more visualizations to be returned to the user client device for display, based on the identified one or more visualizations being restricted by the context of the user client device, wherein the context is passed with the request from the user client device;

wherein the request from the user client device specifies a request for on-demand analytics to be returned to the user client device and additionally specifies a context, the context including at least a user identifier corresponding to the user logged in at the user client device and a parent object identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of tables from the database system having its data at least partially displayed to the user client device at the time the user client device transmits the request to the system; and

wherein the request interface is to return the one or more visualizations identified to the user client device in fulfillment of the request from the user client device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the context identifying the one or more objects being referenced at the user client device comprises the context to identify at least a parent object being referenced and one or more child objects being referenced at the user client device at the time of the user initiated event.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the custom report types defined by the user or a customer organization comprise at least a data mapping between data elements within two separate and distinct database tables stored in the database system by the plurality of objects.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the request interface to receive the request from the user client device comprises receiving a request from the user client device responsive to the user initiated event at the user client device, the user initiated event corresponding to the activation of a show insights button displayed to a graphical user interface at the user client device.

5. The system of claim 1:

wherein an application executing at the user client device handles the user initiated event locally at the user client device and generates and transmits the request to the request interface of the system;

wherein the user client device is to display a button as a graphical component of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) established by the application at the user client device; and

wherein the GUI established by the application is to receive a click, touch, swipe, or other user gesture event at the button displayed, programmatically triggering the user initiated event causing the application to generate and transmit the request to the system.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the analytics platform is to further examine the data repository of custom report types to generate an inventory of available custom report types restricted by context passed with the request from the user client device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the identified one or more visualizations being restricted by context of the user client device passed with the request from the user client device comprises the analytics platform to filter an available inventory of custom report types by at least a user identifier affiliated with the request from the user client device and further by an object identifier passed with the request as context, the object identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of objects viewed by the user client device at the time the request is initiated from the user client device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the context further specifies a child object identifier of the object identifier passed with the request as context, and wherein the identified one or more visualizations is further restricted according to the child object identifier.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of objects constitute object data, the object data having stored therein a plurality of database tables, each database table having a plurality of database records.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein each database table corresponds to any one of an arbitrarily customer defined database table;

an accounts table;

a sales opportunities table;

a clients table;

a pricing table;

a products listing table;

an order history table;

a contacts table;

a medical patients table;

a medical treatments table;

a medical prescriptions table;

a service history table;

a physical inventory table; and

/or a financial data table.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein each object defines a data structure from which information for the visualizations may be retrieved.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the request interface to return the one or more visualizations identified to the user client device comprises returning multiple visualizations to the user client device to be displayed within a movable carrousel via a graphical user interface of the user client device.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more visualizations each constitute a graphical representation of text data via any one or more of charts, graphs, pie charts, diagraphs, line charts, bar charts, Venn diagrams, derived trend lines, distribution charts, scatter plots, word clouds, heat maps, histograms, area charts, geographical location charts, and/or composition charts.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the request interface to return the one or more visualizations identified to the user client device comprises returning a stream of visualization widgets to the user client device, each executable at the user client device to display the corresponding visualization to a graphical user interface of the user client device.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a query interface to the database system to perform a database join operation on at least the two or more database tables defined by the mapping to create an aggregate dataset; and

wherein the analytics platform to generate the one or more visualizations identified using the aggregate dataset resulting from the database join operation on the two or more database tables.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the mapping between two or more of the database tables constitutes a defined relationship between two of the plurality of objects by object identifier and a key corresponding to each of the two or more database tables;

wherein the database system performs a join operation between the two or more database tables using the mapping to create an aggregate dataset; and

wherein the aggregate dataset is returned to the analytics platform from the database system for use in generating the visualizations.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein a parent object corresponding to one of the plurality of objects stored at the database system is accessed from and displayed to a graphical user interface of the user client device;

wherein the parent object is identified and passed with the request as the context by the user client device based on the user accessing the parent object from the user client device; and

wherein one or more child objects which depend from the parent object are additionally identified and passed with the request as part of the context.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the context of the user client device passed with the request from the user client device further includes what object is presently being viewed at the user client device, what object was previously viewed at the user client device, and what object is being navigated to for viewing at the user client device;

and wherein the one or more visualizations identified to the user client device are further identified and/or prioritized for display to the user client device based on the context provided by the user client device with the request.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the user client device in communication with the system is embodied within one of a laptop computer, a mobile client device, a smartphone, or tablet client device, having integrated therewith a touch interface to display the graphical user interface and to receive user initiated event.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the receive interface to communicate with a communications interface at the user client device through remote services established by the system, wherein the system communicates with the user client device via a public Internet;

wherein the remote services are implemented by the system at a host organization that serves as a cloud based service provider to the user client device;

wherein the cloud based service provider hosts an application use by the user client device, the request from the user client device for analytics data responsive to the user initiated event being originated from the application hosted by the cloud based service provider; and

wherein the cloud based service provider makes the application accessible to authorized users affiliated with a customer organization.

21. A computer-implemented method to execute within a system having at least a processor and a memory therein, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:

storing a plurality of objects within a database of the system, each object having a database table embodied therein;

maintaining a data repository of custom report types, each custom report type defining a mapping between two or more of the database tables;

receiving a request from a user client device communicably interfaced to the system, wherein the request is for analytics data responsive to a user initiated event originating at the user client device;

executing an analytics platform at the system via the processor and the memory of the system, wherein the analytics platform enables on-demand selection and rendering of a data visualization triggered by a user selection specified by the request from the user client device without requiring the user to pre-identify a report to be provided as the data visualization in fulfillment of the request;

receiving, at the analytics platform, a context identifying at least the user having submitted the request and one or more objects being referenced at the user client device at the time of the user initiated event;

wherein the request from the user client device specifies a request for on-demand analytics to be returned to the user client device and additionally specifies a context, the context including at least a user identifier corresponding to the user logged in at the user client device and a parent object identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of tables from the database system having its data at least partially displayed to the user client device at the time the user client device transmits the request to the system;

examining, via the analytics platform, the data repository of custom report types and identifying one or more visualizations to be returned to the user client device for display based on the context of the user client device, wherein the context is as passed with the request from the user client device;

restricting the identified one or more visualizations by the context of the user client device; and

returning the one or more visualizations identified to the user client device.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein receiving the request from the user client device comprises receiving a request from the user client device responsive to the user initiated event at the user client device, the user initiated event corresponding to the activation of a show insights button displayed to a graphical user interface at the user client device.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving a user selection at one of the visualizations returned to the user client device, the user selection captured at a sub-menu from which the user selection specifies one of a line chart, a bar chart, a horizontal bar chart, or a pie chart for an existing visualization to modify the depiction of information within the visualization; and

updating the visualization at the graphical user interface according to the user selection.

24. Non-transitory computer readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a system, the instructions cause the system to perform operations including:

storing a plurality of objects within a database of the system, each object having a database table embodied therein;

maintaining a data repository of custom report types, each custom report type defining a mapping between two or more of the database tables;

receiving a request from a user client device communicably interfaced to the system, wherein the request is for analytics data responsive to a user initiated event originating at the user client device;

executing an analytics platform at the system via the processor and the memory of the system, wherein the analytics platform enables on-demand selection and rendering of a data visualization triggered by a user selection specified by the request from the user client device without requiring the user to pre-identify a report to be provided as the data visualization in fulfillment of the request;

receiving, at the analytics platform, a context identifying at least the user having submitted the request and one or more objects being referenced at the user client device at the time of the user initiated event;

examining, via the analytics platform, the data repository of custom report types and identifying one or more visualizations to be returned to the user client device for display based on the context of the user client device, wherein the context is passed with the request from the user client device;

wherein the request from the user client device specifies a request for on-demand analytics to be returned to the user client device and additionally specifies a context, the context including at least a user identifier corresponding to the user logged in at the user client device and a parent object identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of tables from the database system having its data at least partially displayed to the user client device at the time the user client device transmits the request to the system;

restricting the identified one or more visualizations by the context of the user client device; and

returning the one or more visualizations identified to the user client device.