MULTI-DIMENSIONED DATA HIERARCHIES

• US 20080163125A1
• Filed: 05/09/2007
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Jacot, Kimberly, Cheng, Anthony H., Liu, Lujiang, Gu, Yu-Feng
• Granted Patent: US 9,361,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/853
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2428 Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms G06F16/2423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A dashboard application can enable a user to quickly view data (and, in a particular aspect, data from one or more business applications) in an efficient manner. The dashboard application can be used to view data about one or metrics that reflect the performance of a business, as derived from data maintained (perhaps in an associated data store) by the business application(s). The dashboard application may be configurable by a user to allow the user to select one or more dimensions of the data in order to filter and/or categorize the data for display.

Claims

1. A method of displaying data for a user, the method comprising:

accessing a set of data comprising a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records comprising a plurality of data elements, wherein each data element in a record has a corresponding dimension;

displaying, for a user, a list of available dimensions;

providing a first input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for categorizing the plurality of records;

receiving, from the user and via the first input mechanism, an identification of a first set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are to be categorized;

providing a second input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for filtering the set of data;

receiving, from the user and via the second input mechanism, an identification of a second set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are be filtered;

generating a display hierarchy for displaying the set of data, based on the second set of dimensions; and

displaying, for the user, a representation of the display hierarchy.

2. A method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

providing a third input mechanism to allow the user to select a dimension, from the first set of dimensions, for categorizing the plurality of records; and

displaying, for the user, at least a portion of at least some of the plurality of records, wherein the displayed portion of the records are categorized according to the selected dimension.

3. A method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

providing a third input mechanism to allow the user to select a dimension, from the display hierarchy, as a filter criterion; and

displaying, for the user, a subset of the set of data, the subset comprising records that meet the filter criterion.

4. A method as recited by claim 1, wherein the set of data pertains to a metric.

5. A method as recited by claim 4, wherein at least some of the set of data is used to calculate the metric.

6. A method as recited by claim 1, wherein displaying a representation of a display hierarchy comprises transmitting the representation of the display hierarchy to a web browser for display to the user.

7. A method as recited by claim 1, wherein the set of data is generated by a business application and stored in a database maintained by the business application, and wherein accessing the set of data comprises accessing the database.

8. A method as recited by claim 1, wherein the set of data is a first set of data that pertains to a first metric, the method further comprising:

displaying a dashboard application for a user, the dashboard application comprising a plurality of visible components, the plurality of visible components comprising a first visible component and a second visible component;

displaying information about the first metric with the first visible component;

obtaining, from a data store maintained by the business application, a second set of data pertaining to a second metric; and

displaying information about the second metric with the second visible component.

9. A method as recited by claim 8, wherein the first visible component comprises an input mechanism that is configured to be selected by the user to invoke a third visible component that provides a detailed display of the first set of data, wherein the display hierarchy is displayed in a fourth visible component along with the third visible component.

10. A method as recited by claim 9, wherein a first web page comprises the first and second visible components, and wherein a second web page comprises the third and fourth visible component.

11. A method as recited by claim 8, wherein the dashboard application is implemented as a portlet on a web page comprising information other than the dashboard application.

12. A method as recited by claim 8, wherein the first visible component comprises a first portlet on a web page, and wherein the second visible component comprises a second portlet on the web page.

13. A system, comprising:

means for accessing a set of data comprising a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records comprising a plurality of data elements, wherein each data element in a record has a corresponding dimension;

means for displaying, for a user, a list of available dimensions;

means for providing a first input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for categorizing the plurality of records;

means for receiving, from the user and via the first input mechanism, an identification of a first set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are to be categorized;

means for providing a second input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for filtering the set of data;

means for receiving, from the user and via the second input mechanism, an identification of a second set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are be filtered;

means for generating a display hierarchy for displaying the set of data, based on the second set of dimensions; and

means for displaying, for the user, a representation of the display hierarchy.

14. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions executable by one or more processors, the set of instructions comprising:

instructions to access a set of data comprising a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records comprising a plurality of data elements, wherein each data element in a record has a corresponding dimension;

instructions to display, for a user, a list of available dimensions;

instructions to provide a first input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for categorizing the plurality of records;

instructions to receive, from the user and via the first input mechanism, an identification of a first set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are to be categorized;

instructions to provide a second input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for filtering the set of data;

instructions to receive, from the user and via the second input mechanism, an identification of a second set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are be filtered;

instructions to generate a display hierarchy for displaying the set of data, based on the second set of dimensions; and

instructions to display, for the user, a representation of the display hierarchy.

15. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a communication interface; and

a computer readable medium, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions executable by the processor, the set of instructions comprising;

instructions to access a set of data comprising a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records comprising a plurality of data elements, wherein each data element in a record has a corresponding dimension;

instructions to display, for a user, a list of available dimensions;

instructions to provide a first input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for categorizing the plurality of records;

instructions to receive, from the user and via the first input mechanism, an identification of a first set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are to be categorized;

instructions to provide a second input mechanism to allow the user to select one or more dimensions for filtering the set of data;

instructions to receive, from the user and via the second input mechanism, an identification of a second set of one or more dimensions by which the plurality of records are be filtered;

instructions to generate a display hierarchy for displaying the set of data, based on the second set of dimensions; and

instructions to display, for the user, a representation of the display hierarchy.

16. A computer system as recited by claim 15, wherein the instructions to access a set of data comprise:

instructions to establish communication with a data store associated with one or more business applications;

instructions to request the set of data from the data store, wherein the set of data pertains to one or more of the business applications; and

instructions to receive the set of data from the data store.

17. A computer system as recited by claim 15, wherein the computer system comprises a server computer, the server computer being in communication with a client computer, and wherein the instructions to display a list of available dimensions and a representation of the display hierarchy comprise instructions to transmit information to the client computer for displaying the list of available dimensions and the representation of the display hierarchy, and wherein the instructions to provide first and second input mechanisms comprise instructions to provide the first and second input mechanisms on the client computer.

18. A computer system as recited by claim 17, wherein the server computer comprises a web server and the client computer comprises a web browser, and wherein the list of available dimensions, the representation of the display hierarchy, and the first and second input mechanisms are provided by the web server to the web browser.