Multiple chart user interface

• US 20020118192A1
• Filed: 02/27/2001
• Published: 08/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cahill, Jason M., Davies, Paul, Couckuyt, Jeff
• Granted Patent: US 6,906,717 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

A drag-and-drop user interface (DDUI) can generate multiple charts in an integrated chart report and supports the drag-and-drop method of adding fields to the integrated chart report. When a field is dropped from a field list into a multiple chart drop zone, the DDUI will automatically generate additional charts to represent the data in the dropped field. An additional chart will be generated for each unique entry in a data field. The number of charts can be modified by selecting particular elements in the dropped field, by means of a drop-down menu. The drop-down menu enables the elimination or addition of elements of the dropped field. Each additional field dropped into the multiple chart drop zone will add a chart to the chart report. Conversely, each field dragged out of the multiple chart drop zone will eliminate a chart from the chart report. The DDUI can accommodate various chart types. The multiple chart drop zone can be slightly modified to accommodate the specialized needs of various chart types, for example, x-y, bubble, bar, and pie chart types.

Claims

1. A method for generating a chart report, the method comprising the steps of:

displaying at least one drop zone;

receiving a first data field that is dropped into the drop zone;

generating a first chart of the first data field, in response to a determination that the first data field has been received by the drop zone;

receiving a second data field that is dropped into the drop zone; and

generating a second chart of the first data field and a third chart of the second data field, in response to a determination that the first data field has been received by the drop zone and that the second data field has been received by the drop zone.

2. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying a field list containing at least one data field and wherein the field list contains at least one value data field and at least one characteristic data field.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first data field is a value data field.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the first data field is a characteristics data field.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the drop zone is a drop zone selected from the group consisting of:

a category drop zone;

a filter drop zone;

a value data field drop zone; and

a series drop zone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second chart and the third chart are generated in an integrated display.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second chart and the third chart are generated in a single window.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the second chart is smaller than the first chart and the third chart is smaller than the first chart.

10. A drag-and-drop user interface for generating a chart report depicting data contained in a data source, comprising:

a field list containing at least one value data field and at least one characteristic data field;

a data field drop zone for receiving the at least one value data field;

a filter field drop zone for receiving the at least one characteristic data field;

a category field drop zone for receiving the at least one characteristic data field;

a multiple chart drop zone for receiving the at least one characteristic data field; and

a series field drop zone for receiving the at least one characteristic data field;

wherein the chart report is generated with more than one chart, in response to receiving more than one characteristic data field in the multiple chart drop zone.

11. The drag-and-drop interface of claim 10, wherein the data in the chart report is limited to at least one element identified in the dropped characteristic data field.

12. The drag-and-drop interface of claim 10, wherein the data in the chart report is separated according to at least one series in the dropped characteristic data field.

13. The drag-and-drop interface of claim 10, wherein the data in the chart report is categorized according to at least one category in the dropped characteristic data field.

14. The drag-and-drop interface of claim 10, wherein the chart report displays the more than one chart simultaneously.

15. The drag-and-drop interface of claim 10, wherein the chart report displays the more than one chart in a single window.