Method and apparatus for status display with intermediate database access

• US 20040221259A1
• Filed: 09/29/2003
• Published: 11/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Nicolas, Jerome Aguirre, Sprague, Steven Michael, Lampe, Richard Douglas, Devore, Lyle E. Jr., Varley, John J., Vaughn, Richard Allen, Clark, Billy, Jaeger, Ryan
• Application Number:
  US10/674,127
• Publication Number:
  US 20040221259A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A system and method for information display based on a family of display screens for displaying information derived from numerous data sources including intermediate datasources. Each display screen includes function controls as well as indicator controls. The function controls link a first level display screen to subsidiary display screens. A capacity is provided for saving defined display screen formats and for generating a custom display screen based on function controls which were previously defined in defined display screens. Also disclosed is a method of using a family of display screens for managing access to information and displaying that information.

Claims

1. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen, comprising:

means for accessing a plurality of information sources;

means for generating a display screen template, said display screen template including at least one control, each said at least one control having at least one function associated therewith, said display screen template including at least one status indicator;

means for storing a display screen function database associated with said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a status indicator threshold;

means for selectively activating said status indicator based on information located in at least one of said information sources and on at least one status indicator threshold; and

means responsive to a control on said display screen template, for invoking a function associated with said control on said display screen template upon activation of said control.

2. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 1, further comprising means for user authentication for controlling access to predetermined information sources based on user identification information.

3. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 1, wherein said display screen template includes a display region for presenting selected information to a user upon activation of said control.

4. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 3, further comprising means, responsive to activation of said control, for generating a three-dimensional image based on data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said three-dimensional image in said display region.

5. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 4, wherein said mean for generating a three-dimensional image is capable of generating a three-dimensional image of an object having visual attributes thereof show a relationship between data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and at least a portion of said object.

6. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 3, further comprising means for retrieving a three-dimensional image from one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said three-dimensional image in said display region.

7. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 1, wherein said function is an operation selected from the group consisting of a hyperlink, a script, a program, and a query.

8. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 1, wherein said at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template contains a plurality of status indicator thresholds associated with a single status indicator, and

wherein said means for selectively activating said status indicator differentially activates said status indicator depending on a relationship between said information located in at least one of said information sources and a corresponding one of said plurality of status indicator thresholds.

9. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 1, wherein said status indicator is capable of displaying more than two status indications.

10. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality display screens comprising:

means for accessing a plurality of information sources;

means for generating a plurality of display screen templates, each display screen template including at least one control, each control having at least one function associated therewith, each display screen template including at least one status indicator;

means for storing a plurality of display screen function databases, each display screen function database being associated with a respective one of said plurality of display screens, each display screen function database containing at least one record of a function associated with a control on said respective one of said plurality of display screens, each display screen function database containing at least one record of a status indicator threshold associated with a status indicator control on said respective one of said plurality of display screens;

means for selecting one of said plurality of display screen templates for display;

means for selectively activating a status indicator on said selected one of said plurality of display screen templates based on information located in at least one of said information sources and on at least one status indicator threshold; and

means responsive to a control on said selected one of said plurality of display screen templates, for invoking a function associated with said control upon activation of said control.

11. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 10, further comprising means for user authentication for controlling access to predetermined information sources based on user identification information.

12. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 10, wherein each said display screen template includes a display region for presenting selected information to a user upon activation of said control.

13. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 12, further comprising means, responsive to activation of said control, for generating a three-dimensional image based on data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said three-dimensional image in said display region.

14. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 13, wherein said mean for generating a three-dimensional image is capable of generating a three-dimensional image of an object having visual attributes thereof show a relationship between data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and at least a portion of said object.

15. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 12, further comprising means for retrieving a three-dimensional image from one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said three-dimensional image in said display region.

16. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 10, wherein said function is an operation selected from the group consisting of a hyperlink, a script, a program, and a query.

17. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 10, wherein said at least one record of a function associated with a control on said respective one of said plurality of display screen templates contains a plurality of status indicator thresholds associated with a single status indicator, and

wherein said means for selectively activating a status indicator on said selected one of said plurality of display screen templates differentially activates said status indicator depending on a relationship between said information located in at least one of said information sources and a corresponding one of said plurality of status indicator thresholds.

18. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 10, wherein said status indicator is capable of displaying more than two status indications.

19. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 10, further comprising means for linking an intermediate datasource to at least one additional information source, and wherein at least one of said plurality of information sources is an intermediate datasource.

20. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 19, further comprising means, responsive to activation of said control, for displaying information based on information obtained from at least one of said plurality of information sources, in said display region.

21. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 19, further comprising means, responsive to activation of said control, for displaying information based on information obtained from said intermediate datasource, in said display region.

22. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 21, wherein said means for linking said intermediate datasource to at least one additional information source obtains information from said at least one additional information and stores said thus obtained information in said intermediate datasource.

23. A computer-based system for presenting a selected one of a plurality of display screens in accordance with claim 21, wherein said means for linking said intermediate datasource to at least one additional information source periodically obtains information from said at least one additional information and stores said thus periodically obtained information in said intermediate datasource.

24. A method of business collaboration using a computer-based system for presenting information display screens, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a computer-based system that can be accessed by a plurality of users;

interfacing said computer-based system with a plurality of information sources so that at least a portion of said plurality of information sources are commonly accessible by at least a portion of said plurality of users;

presenting to a plurality of users an information display screen including at least one status indicator and at least one control, each said at least one control having at least one function associated therewith;

reading a display screen function database associated with said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a status indicator threshold;

selectively activating said status indicator based on information located in at least one of said information sources and on at least one status indicator threshold; and

responding to a control on said display screen template, for invoking a function associated with said control on said display screen template upon activation of said control.

25. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen, comprising:

a computer;

an interface device adapted to connect said computer to a plurality of information sources including an intermediate datasource;

a data link for providing a link between an information source and an intermediate datasource so that information in an information source can be provided to said intermediate datasource;

a computer readable medium containing computer executable code for generating a display screen template on said computer, said display screen template including at least one control, each said at least one control having at least one function associated therewith, said display screen template including at least one status indicator;

a computer storage device for storing a display screen function database associated with said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a status indicator threshold; and

wherein said computer readable media containing computer executable code additionally includes computer executable code for;

selectively activating said status indicator based on information located in at least one of said information sources and on at least one status indicator threshold, and

responding to activation of a control on said display screen template, for invoking a function associated with said control on said display screen template upon activation of said control.

26. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 25, wherein said computer readable media containing computer executable code additionally includes computer executable code for responding to activation of said control by generating a three-dimensional image based on data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said three-dimensional image in said display region.

27. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 26, wherein said at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template contains a plurality of status indicator thresholds associated with a single status indicator, and

wherein said computer readable media containing computer executable code additionally includes computer executable code for selectively activating said status indicator differentially depending on a relationship between said information located in at least one of said plurality of information sources or said intermediate datasource and a corresponding one of said plurality of status indicator thresholds.

36. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 27, wherein said status indicator is capable of displaying more than two status indications.

37. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 27, further comprising means, responsive to activation of said control, for displaying information based on information obtained from at least one of said plurality of information sources, in said display region.

38. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 27, further comprising means, responsive to activation of said control, for displaying information based on information obtained from said intermediate datasource, in said display region.

39. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 38, wherein said means for linking said intermediate datasource to at least one additional information source obtains information from said at least one additional information and stores said thus obtained information in said intermediate datasource.

40. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 38, wherein said means for linking said intermediate datasource to at least one additional information source periodically obtains information from said at least one additional information and stores said thus periodically obtained information in said intermediate datasource.

28. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen, comprising:

means for accessing a plurality of information sources, at least one of said information sources being an intermediate datasource;

means for linking said intermediate datasource to at least one additional information source;

means for generating a display screen template, said display screen template including at least one control, each said at least one control having at least one function associated therewith, said display screen template including at least one status indicator;

means for storing a display screen function database associated with said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a status indicator threshold;

means for selectively activating said status indicator based on information located in at least one of said information sources and on at least one status indicator threshold; and

means responsive to a control on said display screen template, for invoking a function associated with said control on said display screen template upon activation of said control.

29. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 28, further comprising means for user authentication for controlling access to predetermined information sources based on user identification information.

30. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 28, wherein said display screen template includes a display region for presenting selected information to a user upon activation of said control.

31. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 30, further comprising means, responsive to activation of said control, for generating a three-dimensional image based on data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said three-dimensional image in said display region.

32. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 31, wherein said mean for generating a three-dimensional image is capable of generating a three-dimensional image of an object having visual attributes thereof show a relationship between data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and at least a portion of said object.

33. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 30, further comprising means for retrieving a three-dimensional image from one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said three-dimensional image in said display region.

34. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 28, wherein said function is an operation selected from the group consisting of a hyperlink, a script, a program, and a query.

35. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 28, wherein said at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template contains a plurality of status indicator thresholds associated with a single status indicator, and

wherein said means for selectively activating said status indicator differentially activates said status indicator depending on a relationship between said information located in at least one of said information sources and a corresponding one of said plurality of status indicator thresholds.

41. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen, comprising:

a computer;

an interface device adapted to connect said computer to a plurality of information sources;

a computer readable medium containing computer executable code for generating a display screen template, said display screen template including at least one control, each said at least one control having at least one function associated therewith, said display screen template including at least one status indicator, said display screen template further including a display region for presenting selected information to a user upon activation of said control;

a computer storage device for storing a display screen function database associated with said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a function associated with a control on said display screen template, said display screen function database containing at least one record of a status indicator threshold; and

wherein said computer readable media containing computer executable code additionally includes computer executable code for;

selectively activating said status indicator based on information located in at least one of said information sources and on at least one status indicator threshold, and

responding to activation of a control on said display screen template, for generating a multi-axis scorecard display based on data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and presenting said scorecard display in said display region upon activation of said control.

42. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 41, further comprising a data link for providing a link between an information source and an intermediate datasource so that information in an information source can be provided to said intermediate datasource, and

wherein said interface device is adapted to connect said computer to a plurality of information sources including an intermediate datasource.

43. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 42, wherein said computer executable code for generating a multi-axis scorecard display is adapted to generate a multi-axis scorecard display based on data stored in at least one of said plurality of information sources and on data stored in said intermediate datasource.

44. A computer-based system for presenting an information display screen in accordance with claim 41, wherein said computer executable code for generating a multi-axis scorecard display is adapted to generate a multi-axis scorecard display based on data stored in at least two of said plurality of information sources.

45. In a computer-based system for presenting a plurality of display screens, each display screen including at least one control, each control having at least one function associated therewith, a method for generating a custom display screen comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of display screen function databases, each display screen function database being associated with a respective one of a plurality of display screens, each display screen function database containing at least one record of a function associated with a control for said respective one of said plurality of display screens;

providing a custom display screen template having at least one undefined control;

selecting an undefined control on said custom display screen template;

receiving a first user request for specific functionality on a custom display;

identifying a first data source which relates to the first user request for specific functionality;

exporting data from said first data source into an intermediate data source;

prototyping a function which relates to the first user request for specific functionality and said intermediate data source;

associating said selected undefined control with said prototype function;

updating a display screen function database associated with said custom display screen template with a record corresponding to said prototyped function;

receiving user feedback on said prototype function;

modifying said prototype function to change a data relationship thereof from said intermediate data source to said first data source and updating said custom display screen function database associated with said custom display screen template with a record corresponding to said modified prototyped function; and

saving said display screen function database associated with said custom display screen template for production use.

46. A method for generating a custom display screen in accordance with claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

selecting a record of a function associated with a control for said respective one of said plurality of display screens from one of said plurality of display screen function databases;

selecting an undefined control on said custom display screen template;

associating said selected undefined control with said selected record of a function associated with a control; and

updating a display screen function database associated with said custom display screen template with a record corresponding to said selected record of a function.

47. A method for generating a custom display screen in accordance with claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

selecting an undefined status indicator on said custom display screen template;

associating said selected undefined status indicator with an information parameter and a threshold to define a new status indicator; and

updating a display screen function database associated with said custom display screen template with a record corresponding to a definition of said new status indicator.