Method of visualising data
First Claim
1. A method of visualising data on a computer monitor, wherein said data resides in a database on a computer in communication with said monitor, and said database comprises a plurality of records, with each of said records comprising a plurality of data elements stored in said database that correspond with a plurality of attributes for each of said records, said method comprising the steps of, (a) analysing said database, and providing means to allow a user to select a sub-set of records, and means to select a sub-set of attributes for said records to display upon said computer monitor, whereby said user chooses one of said attributes to be displayed along an x-axis, and chooses another of said attributes to be displayed along a y-axis, and chooses one or more attributes from among the remainder of said sub-set of attributes to be represented and displayed in the form of a discrete visual object, (b) and displaying said data on said monitor arranged according to said sub-set of attributes in the form of a plurality of discrete visual objects arrayed about said x- and y-axes, whereby each of said visual objects representing a record in said sub-set from the database, (c) providing means for said user to select any one or more of said visual objects, whereby upon selection, at least some of the data elements for the attributes represented by said selected visual object are displayed, and providing means for optionally editing any one or more of said data elements, and (d) providing means to allow step (a) to be repeated with a different choice of attributes.
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Abstract
A method for visualising data on a computer screen is provided, where the data is held in any type of computer database. The data is displayed in the form of discrete visual objects that represent records in the database, arrayed about an x- and a y-, and optionally a z-axis. The user selects one, two or three attributes of the data to be represented about the axes, and each visual object displays and represents the remaining data attributes for each record. The user can select a data object and drill down to display the data elements for that record, and can further interact by changing the data, if desired. The appearance of the visual object can be changed, to represent some attributes, in various ways. One attribute is preferably a measure of time. In this situation, the display may be animated to show trends occurring over time, or to provide a forecast.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of visualising data on a computer monitor, wherein said data resides in a database on a computer in communication with said monitor, and said database comprises a plurality of records, with each of said records comprising a plurality of data elements stored in said database that correspond with a plurality of attributes for each of said records, said method comprising the steps of,
(a) analysing said database, and providing means to allow a user to select a sub-set of records, and means to select a sub-set of attributes for said records to display upon said computer monitor, whereby said user chooses one of said attributes to be displayed along an x-axis, and chooses another of said attributes to be displayed along a y-axis, and chooses one or more attributes from among the remainder of said sub-set of attributes to be represented and displayed in the form of a discrete visual object, (b) and displaying said data on said monitor arranged according to said sub-set of attributes in the form of a plurality of discrete visual objects arrayed about said x- and y-axes, whereby each of said visual objects representing a record in said sub-set from the database, (c) providing means for said user to select any one or more of said visual objects, whereby upon selection, at least some of the data elements for the attributes represented by said selected visual object are displayed, and providing means for optionally editing any one or more of said data elements, and (d) providing means to allow step (a) to be repeated with a different choice of attributes.
Specification