Methods for defining queries, generating query results and displaying same
First Claim
1. A method for displaying and navigating among images of documents on a two-dimensional screen, comprising:
- (a) grouping the documents into a plurality of subjects;
(b) for documents associated with each subject, establishing a document hierarchy that includes a plurality of hierarchical levels and assigning each of the documents associated with the subject to one of the hierarchical levels;
(c) displaying a three-dimensional landscape defined by x, y and z orthogonal axes on the screen;
(d) arranging a plurality of document stacks in the three-dimensional landscape;
wherein each document stack corresponds to one of the subjects;
wherein each document stack has a plurality of layers arranged perpendicular to a length of the document stack, and each of the layers is parallel to a plane defined by the x and z axes; and
(e) wherein, for each document stack, each layer in the document stack corresponds to one of the hierarchical levels of the document hierarchy established for the subject corresponding to the document stack;
(f) for each document stack;
displaying an image representing each document in the group of documents associated with the subject corresponding to the stack;
wherein the displaying is performed in accordance with the hierarchy established for the subject such that one or more images representing documents assigned to each level of the hierarchy are displayed in the layer of the stack corresponding to such level; and
(g) navigating among the images representing the documents displayed in the three-dimensional landscape by moving a cursor within the two-dimensional screen.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Documents are grouped into a plurality of subjects. For documents associated with each subject, a document hierarchy is established that includes a plurality of hierarchical levels. A three-dimensional landscape defined by x, y and z orthogonal axes is displayed on a screen, and a plurality of document stacks are arranged in the landscape. Each document stack in the landscape corresponds to a subject, and has a plurality of layers arranged perpendicular to the length of the stack. Each layer in each document stack corresponds to one of the hierarchical levels of the hierarchy established for the subject corresponding to the stack. Images representing documents assigned to each level of the hierarchy are displayed in the layer of the stack corresponding to such level. A user navigates among the document images displayed in the landscape using a cursor.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method for displaying and navigating among images of documents on a two-dimensional screen, comprising:
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(a) grouping the documents into a plurality of subjects;
(b) for documents associated with each subject, establishing a document hierarchy that includes a plurality of hierarchical levels and assigning each of the documents associated with the subject to one of the hierarchical levels;
(c) displaying a three-dimensional landscape defined by x, y and z orthogonal axes on the screen;
(d) arranging a plurality of document stacks in the three-dimensional landscape;
wherein each document stack corresponds to one of the subjects;
wherein each document stack has a plurality of layers arranged perpendicular to a length of the document stack, and each of the layers is parallel to a plane defined by the x and z axes; and
(e) wherein, for each document stack, each layer in the document stack corresponds to one of the hierarchical levels of the document hierarchy established for the subject corresponding to the document stack;
(f) for each document stack;
displaying an image representing each document in the group of documents associated with the subject corresponding to the stack;
wherein the displaying is performed in accordance with the hierarchy established for the subject such that one or more images representing documents assigned to each level of the hierarchy are displayed in the layer of the stack corresponding to such level; and
(g) navigating among the images representing the documents displayed in the three-dimensional landscape by moving a cursor within the two-dimensional screen.
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2. A method for displaying and navigating among information on a two-dimensional screen, comprising:
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(a) displaying a plurality of documents in a three-dimensional landscape defined by x, y and z orthogonal axes on the screen;
(b) arranging a plurality of document planes in the three-dimensional landscape, wherein each of the document planes is parallel to a plane defined by the y and z axes;
(c) separating the documents into a plurality of document groups as a function of a first parameter and associating each of the document planes with one of the document groups, wherein each of the document planes corresponds to a respective value of the first parameter and is disposed at a position along the x-axis in accordance with said respective value of the first parameter;
(d) for each document group, displaying an image of each document in the group in the document plane associated with the document group;
wherein a common positioning rule is applied to each document group such that the images of the documents in the document plane associated with the document group are uniformly positioned across all planes associated with the document groups.
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3. A method of defining a query and generating a resulting tree comprising:
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(a) graphically selecting nodes and edges and graphically placing representations of the selected nodes and edges in a window in a graphical user interface in order to create a vertical stack of nodes and edges respectively representing object types and link types;
(b) defining the query based on the stack; and
(c) generating a resulting tree by applying the query to an underlying data store, wherein a top node of the stack defines one or more top-level elements in the resulting tree, a node below the top node of the stack defines child elements of the one or more top-level elements of the resulting tree, and an edge of the stack connecting the top node and the node below the top node defines the relationship between the one or more top-level elements and their child elements in the resulting tree. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification