Method and apparatus for configuration of facet display including sequence of facet tree elements and posting lists

• US 20060288039A1
• Filed: 05/24/2005
• Published: 12/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Handy-Bosma, John Hans, Hawley, J. Christopher, Lee, Raymond, Ceste, Mario Gerald Jr., Roy, Matthew Norman, Acevedo-Aviles, Joel C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,774,383 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/956 Hierarchical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/968 interface for database querying and retrieval

Abstract

A set of programs is disclosed comprising a web display interface program (WIP), a Display Configuration Program (DCP) and a Sequence Logging Program (SLP). Responsive to user actions, the set of programs provide instructions to a server connected to storage containing a facet tree database and a rules database. The WIP comprises a user interface and a set of servlets that read the facet element to be displayed from the facet tree database, and based upon the user characteristics, acquire the appropriate display rules for the user from the rules database. The DCP allows an administrator to select or configure rules that will establish views for different end users that are tailored to those particular end users. The SLP allows end users to navigate through a set of facets using a standard faceted search, or using a previously constructed sequence of facets, and logs the user choices for later use.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a computer having a first storage electronically connected to a second storage;

a web interface program in the first storage;

a facet tree database and a rule database in the second storage;

wherein responsive to a first user selection of a facet tree and a second user selection of a user category from a selection window for specialized views of the facet tree, the web interface program displays a plurality of elements from the facet tree in accordance with a plurality of applicable rules from the rules database where the plurality of rules has been configured for the user category.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the web interface program performs calculations to return appropriate facet element item counts in the plurality of elements from the facet tree.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a display configuration program that provides instructions so that the user may configure a set of rules for an end user category from an existing set of rules, and write the set of rules to a configuration file for the end user category.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a display configuration program that provides instructions so that the user may add an end user category or role, create rules for the new end user category or role, and write the rules to a configuration file for the end user category.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a sequence logging program that provides instructions so that the user may display and navigate a facet tree wherein each of a plurality of user navigation choices are logged.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein each of the plurality of user navigation choices are written to a sequence document Extensible Markup Language file.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the web interface program provides a display screen and an activation device so that responsive to a user triggering the activation device, the user may toggle between an original facet tree from the facet tree database and a view configured for a particular category of end user.

8. A method for controlling display of facet tree elements comprising:

using a server computer connected to a storage;

displaying a facet tree selected by a user;

responsive to a selection of a facet element by the user, displaying a plurality of categories; and

responsive to a selection of a category by the user, displaying a plurality of facet elements in accordance with a plurality of rules configured for the category.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

performing calculations to return an appropriate facet element item count in each of a plurality of elements from the facet tree.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

providing instructions so that the user may configure a set of rules for an end user category from an existing set of rules.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

writing the set of rules to a configuration file for the end user category.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

providing instructions so that the user may add an end user category or role and create a rule for the new end user category or role.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

writing the rule to a configuration file for the end user category.

14. The method claim 8 further comprising:

providing instructions so that the user may display and navigate a facet tree wherein each of a plurality of user navigation choices are logged.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

writing each of the plurality of user navigation choices to a sequence document Extensible Markup Language file.

16. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

providing a display screen and an activation device so that responsive to a user triggering the activation device, the user may toggle between an original facet tree from the facet tree database and a view configured for a particular category of end user.

17. A program product comprising:

a web interface program;

a display configuration program; and

a sequence logging program;

wherein the web interface program, the display configuration program, and the sequence logging program contain instructions for accessing a facet tree database and a rule database so that responsive to a user selection of a facet tree from the facet tree database, and selection of a category from a selection window, the web interface program displays a plurality of facet elements in accordance with a plurality of rules configured for the category.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the web interface program performs calculations to return an appropriate facet element item count in each of the plurality of elements from the facet tree.

19. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the display configuration program further comprises:

instructions so that the user may configure a set of rules for an end user category from an existing set of rules, and write the set of rules to a configuration file for the end user category; and

instructions so that the user may add an end user category or role, create rules for the new end user category or role, and write the rules to a configuration file for the end user category.

20. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the sequence logging program further comprises:

instructions so that the user may display and navigate a facet tree wherein each of a plurality of user navigation choices are logged and written to a sequence document Extensible Markup Language file.