Dashboard controls to manipulate visual data

• US 10,114,875 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Kimchi, Gur, Fisher, Danyel Aharon, Welcker, Brian L., Weber, Jason J., Kamal, Ahmed K., Rampson, Benjamin Edward, Morein, William Guthrie, Holm-Peterson, Morten, Lee, Bongshin, Robertson, George G., Schormann, Christian Bernd, Givens, Barry James, Lee, Joshua W., Ruble, B. Scott, Nielsen, Jakob Peter, Ehrenberg, Michael V., Chan, Stella Yick, Krishnan, Murali, Abeln, Christian Olaf, Fernandez, Roland L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Jin-Cheng
• Application Number:
  US12/147,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20090322782A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,777 Days
• Field of Search: 345440, 345765, 707 2- 4, 705 1- 7, 715771, 715810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/256 in federated or virtual databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/203 Drawing of straight lines or curves
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/40 Filling a planar surface by adding surface attributes, e.g. colour or texture

Abstract

A system (and corresponding methodology) by which a user can interact directly with visual data is provided. The system employs associations and relationships between visual data objects to automatically update objects based upon a change in other objects. The innovation also provides specialized controls (e.g., dashboard tools/controls) that facilitate manipulation of visual data. As there can be numerous manners in which a user can interact with visualization data, the innovation enables a specialized set of controls to be identified and provided to a user thereby reducing overwhelming effects of a large number of controls.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions;

presenting a dashboard display including multiple objects on a display of a computing device;

modeling data stored in a database or a spreadsheet by the multiple objects using one or more graphical controls in the dashboard, the modeling comprising dynamically adjusting the data stored in the database or the spreadsheet responsive to graphical manipulation of the multiple objects using the one or more graphical controls, the graphical manipulation comprising receiving a selection of an object of the multiple objects without typing of data for the object; and

in response to receiving the selection of the object, providing visual indications of which one or more other objects of the multiple objects would be affected in response to a change in the selected object, wherein the visual indications include a change in size and a change in color of the one or more other objects of the multiple objects that would be affected in response to the change in the selected object.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the one or more other objects of the multiple objects that would be affected in response to the change in the selected object based on relationships between the multiple objects and the selected object in the database or the spreadsheet.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising prior to changing the selected object, notifying a user of an extent to which the change in the selected object would impact the one or more other objects of the multiple objects after the selected object was changed.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the selection of the object comprises receiving an indication of hovering a mouse or pointer over the object.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing one or more new controls for graphically manipulating the selected object based on a data type of the selected object.

6. A system comprising:

a processor;

memory communicatively coupled to the processor;

a dashboard component stored in the memory and executable on the processor that is configured to;

present a dashboard display including multiple objects;

consolidate one or more graphical controls usable for graphically manipulating the multiple objects based on an identity of a user;

receive a selection of an object of the multiple objects without typing of data for the object, the selection of the object is received by using the one or more graphical controls; and

in response to receiving the selection of the selected object in the dashboard display and prior to graphically manipulating the selected object in the dashboard display, visually indicating one or more other objects of the multiple objects in a display that would be affected if the selected object was changed, wherein visually indicating includes a change in size and a change in color of the one or more other objects of the multiple objects that would be affected if the selected object was changed; and

a data management component stored in the memory and executable by the processor that is configured to enable graphically displaying and graphically manipulating data maintained in a database associated with the system via the multiple objects in the dashboard display and dynamically modifying the data maintained in the database in response to graphical manipulation of one or more of the multiple objects in the dashboard display.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the data management component is further configured to change the one or more other objects based on relationships between the one or more other objects and the selected object in response to changing the selected object.

8. The system of claim 6, further comprising a graphical manipulation component stored in the memory and executable on the processor that selects a set of controls for graphically manipulating the selected object based on an identity of a user.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising an analysis component stored in the memory and executable on the processor that establishes scopes of change of the one or more other objects in view of a change in the selected object.

10. The system of claim 6, further comprising an inference engine component stored in the memory and executable on the processor that employs a probabilistic analysis and/or a statistical-based analysis to infer an action that a user desires to be automatically performed.

11. The system of claim 6, further comprising a model component that includes a plurality of data relationships between the multiple objects.

12. One or more storage devices configured with computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

modeling data stored in a database or a spreadsheet by multiple objects, the modeling comprising dynamically adjusting the data stored in the database or the spreadsheet responsive to graphical manipulation of the multiple objects;

presenting a dashboard display including the multiple objects;

receiving a selection of an object of the multiple objects without typing of data for the object, the selection of the object is received by using one or more graphical controls; and

in response to receiving the selection of the object and prior to changing the selected object, providing visual indications of one or more other objects of the multiple objects that, if changed, would have an impact on the selected object, wherein the visual indications includes a change in size and a change in color of the one or more other objects of the multiple objects that would be affected if the selected object was changed.

13. The one or more storage devices of claim 12, the acts further comprising determining the one or more other objects of the multiple objects that, if changed, would have the impact on the selected object based on relationships between the multiple objects and the selected object.

14. The one or more storage devices of claim 12, the acts further comprising in response to receiving the selection of the object, visually indicating one or more objects of the multiple objects that would be affected in response to the selected object being changed.

15. The one or more storage devices of claim 14, the acts further comprising prior to changing the selected object, notifying a user of an extent of impact on the one or more objects that a change in the selected object would have.

16. The one or more storage devices of claim 12, wherein receiving the selection of the object comprises receiving an indication of hovering a mouse or pointer over the object.

17. The one or more storage devices of claim 12, the acts further comprising providing one or more controls for graphically manipulating the selected object based on an inference of an action that a user desires to be automatically performed.