Methods and apparatus for process thumbnail view

• US 20070038963A1
• Filed: 10/18/2005
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Moore, Dennis
• Granted Patent: US 7,925,985 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/859
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0267 Fault communication, e.g. human machine interface [HMI]

Abstract

The structure and status of a process are displayed jointly. Multiple visualization mechanisms are used to provide the visualization of business process data. Drill-down of the data provides interactivity for a user to access information. In one embodiment color coding is used to provide a color distribution to visually indicate information to a user regarding a process.

Claims

1. A method for displaying data, comprising:

determining a logical structure of multiple phases of a process to provide a display of the process phases in a logical order of the process;

associating a process phase status icon with each of the multiple phases of the process, the phase status icon to visually indicate a status of the phase; and

displaying the process phase status icons for the multiple phases of the process in the logical structure to provide a visualization of the process simultaneously indicating process structure and status.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the logical structure of the phases comprises a chronological order in which the phases are to be completed.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein visually indicate the status of the phase comprises displaying the phase status icon in a particular color.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the phase status comprises a level of development of the phase towards completion of the phase.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the phase status comprises an indication of a threshold task to be addressed prior to completion of the phase.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the threshold task comprises resolving an error condition.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

expanding a process phase status icon to display specific applications of the phase.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein expanding the process phase status icon comprises displaying the specific applications of the phase in response to a mouse-over of the phase status icon by the user.

9. A method according to claim 7, wherein expanding the process phase status icon comprises displaying the specific applications of the phase in response to a cursor click by the user.

10. A method according to claim 7, wherein expanding the process phase status icon comprises displaying the specific applications of the phase in response to a user activating an icon to expand the process.

11. A method according to claim 7, further comprising:

expanding an application to display application-specific data.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein expanding the application comprises showing a link to an enterprise-level object related to the application.

13. A method according to claim 11, wherein expanding the application comprises showing information related to the application.

14. A method according to claim 11, wherein expanding the application comprises showing a link to a task related to the application.

15. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessible medium having content to provide instructions to result in a machine performing operations including:

determining from enterprise-level data a structure and status of phases of a business process;

associating a thumbnail with each of the phases of the business process, the thumbnail to indicate visually the status of the phase; and

displaying the thumbnails in the determined structure of the business process to provide a visualization of the business process that simultaneously indicates the structure and status of the phases of the business process.

16. An article of manufacture according to claim 15, wherein to indicate visually the status of the phase comprises displaying the phase status icon in a particular color.

17. An article of manufacture according to claim 15, wherein the phase status comprises one or more of a degree of completion of the phase or an error condition associated with the phase.

18. An article of manufacture according to claim 15, further comprising the content to provide instructions to result in the machine performing operations including:

expanding a thumbnail to display a business process task associated with the phase.

19. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, further comprising the content to provide instructions to result in the machine performing operations including:

expanding the business process task to display one or more of a link to an enterprise-level object related to the task, enterprise-level data associated with the task, or a link to an action related to the task.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a memory having instructions stored thereon to cause the apparatus to perform operations including determining from enterprise-level data a performance order and status of phases of a business process, associating a status icon with each of the phases of the business process to indicate visually the status of the phase, and displaying the status icons in the determined performance order to provide simultaneously indicate the business process performance order and phase status; and

a processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions on the memory.

21. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein to indicate visually the status of the phase comprises displaying the status icon in a particular color.

22. An apparatus according to claim 20, the memory further having instructions to cause the apparatus to perform operations including:

expanding the status icon to display a business process task associated with the phase.

23. An apparatus according to claim 22, the memory further having instructions to cause the apparatus to perform operations including:

expanding the business process task to display one or more of a link to an enterprise-level object related to the task, enterprise-level data associated with the task, or a link to an action related to the task.

24. A method comprising:

accessing enterprise-level data to determine multiple phases of a business process, including a progress of the phases;

generating an organizational flow of the phases from the enterprise-level data to represent an organization of the phases within the business process;

generating an icon for each of the phases, the icon to visually indicate the progress of the phase; and

displaying the generated icons in the generated organizational flow to simultaneously visually depict the organization and progress of the phases of the business process.

25. A method according to claim 24, wherein the icon to visually indicate the progress of the phase comprises the icon to have a particular color associated with a level of progress of the phase.

26. A method according to claim 25, wherein to simultaneously visually depict the organization and progress of the phases comprises providing a color distribution to represent the overall state of the process.

27. A method according to claim 24, further comprising expanding the icon to display one or more of a link to enterprise resources related to the phase represented by the icon or information related to the phase.

28. A method according to claim 24, further comprising:

accessing visualization preferences associated with a user;

wherein displaying the generated icons comprises displaying the generated icons in accordance with the accessed visualization preferences of the user.

29. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessible medium having content to provide instructions to cause a machine to perform operations, including:

accessing enterprise-level data to determine multiple phases of a business process, including a progress of the phases;

generating an organizational flow of the phases from the enterprise-level data to represent an organization of the phases within the business process;

generating an icon for each of the phases, the icon to visually indicate the progress of the phase; and

displaying the generated icons in the generated organizational flow to simultaneously visually depict the organization and progress of the phases of the business process.

30. An article of manufacture according to claim 29, wherein the icon to visually indicate the progress of the phase comprises the icon to have a particular shape associated with a level of progress of the phase.

31. An article of manufacture according to claim 29, further comprising the content to provide instructions to cause the machine to perform expanding the icon to display one or more of a link to enterprise resources related to the phase represented by the icon or information related to the phase.