VIEWING DATA

• US 20090125844A1
• Filed: 11/13/2007
• Published: 05/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Weir, Jeffrey Jon, Messerly, Katie Jane, Farouki, Karim Taji
• Granted Patent: US 7,992,104 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/838
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

A processing device and method may be provided for displaying a graph, including a number of icons. The icons may be thumbnail images of data elements of a data set. A position of the icons may indicate one or more attribute values of an associated set of attributes. A zooming-in operation may cause at least a portion of the displayed graph to be enlarged, such that at least some of the icons may be presented as enlarged, higher-resolution images. A zooming-out operation may cause the presented enlarged images to be reduced in size and presented in a context of the displayed graph. The enlarged images may include at least one selectable link. In some embodiments, when a displayed image, corresponding to an icon, is enlarged beyond a predetermined amount, the displayed image may be replaced by a corresponding data element of the data set.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method of graphically conveying information with respect to a plurality of data elements of a data set, the machine-implemented method comprising:

displaying a graph including a plurality of data items, each of the plurality of data items corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of data elements of a data set having an associated set of attribute values, the displayed graph indicating a relationship between ones of the plurality of data elements and ones of the associated set of attribute values, each of the plurality of data items being displayed as a small, low-resolution image of the corresponding respective data element of the data set; and

zooming-in on the displayed graph, in response to a command received from a user, such that a larger, higher-resolution image corresponding to at least one of the plurality of data items is displayed.

2. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

zooming-out of the displayed graph, in response to a second command received from the user, such that a smaller lower-resolution image corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of data items is displayed.

3. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

replacing the displayed image corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of data items with at least one of the corresponding data elements when the displayed image is enlarged by at least a predetermined amount as a result of the zooming-in.

4. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

replacing the displayed image corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of data items with at least one of the corresponding data elements when the displayed image is enlarged by at least a predetermined amount as a result of the zooming-in, wherein;

the at least one of the corresponding data elements is a web page.

5. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein when the displayed image corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of data items is enlarged by at least a predetermined amount, the displayed image includes at least one selectable embedded link.

6. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the displaying of the graph including the plurality of data items comprises displaying the plurality of data items corresponding to all of the plurality of data elements of the data set.

7. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a query to a server via a network; and

receiving the plurality of data elements of the data set from the server in response to the sending of the query.

8. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a query to a server via a network, the server including an electronic catalog of products; and

receiving a the plurality of data elements of the data set from the server in response to the sending of the query, each of the plurality of data elements describing one of the products, wherein

when the displayed image corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of data items is enlarged by at least a predetermined amount, the displayed image includes at least one selectable embedded link, selection of one of the at least one selectable embedded link facilitates a purchase of a corresponding one of the products.

9. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

each of the displayed items corresponds to a web page, and

the displayed graph is a histogram illustrating a history of accessed web pages.

10. A machine-readable medium having instructions recorded thereon for at least one processor, the instructions comprising:

instructions for displaying a plurality of thumbnail images as data items of a graph, each of the thumbnail images representing a respective data element of a data set such that information regarding an associated respective set of attributes of each of the data elements is conveyed by the graph and all of the data elements of the data set are represented by the plurality of thumbnail images;

instructions for zooming-in on the displayed plurality of thumbnail images resulting in at least one displayed enlarged image corresponding to at least one of the displayed thumbnail images; and

instructions for zooming-out of the at least one displayed enlarged image resulting in a display including at least one small image corresponding to the at least one displayed enlarged image.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for zooming-in on the displayed plurality of thumbnail images resulting in at least one displayed enlarged image corresponding to at least one of the displayed thumbnail images further comprise:

instructions for replacing one of the at least one displayed enlarged image with the respective data element of the data set.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the at least one displayed enlarged image includes at least one selectable link when the at least one displayed enlarged image is enlarged by at least a predetermined amount.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein a layout of the graph is predefined.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein a layout of the graph is configurable.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

each of the plurality of thumbnail images is a thumbnail image of a respective web page, and

the graph includes a histogram including the plurality of thumbnail images illustrating a history with respect to when each of a plurality of web pages, corresponding to the plurality of thumbnail images, was accessed.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for zooming-in on the displayed plurality of thumbnail images further comprise instructions for retaining a context in which the plurality of thumbnail images is displayed.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:

instructions for receiving the data elements of the data set in response to sending a query;

instructions for sorting and filtering the data elements of the data set; and

instructions for creating the plurality of thumbnail images based on the sorted and filtered data elements of the data set.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:

instructions for receiving search engine results including the data elements of the data set; and

instructions for creating the plurality of thumbnail images based on the data elements of the data set.

19. A processing device comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory connected to the at least one processor, the memory comprising;

instructions for receiving a plurality of data elements of a data set in response to sending a query,

instructions for sorting and filtering the plurality of data elements according to attributes associated with each of the plurality of data elements,

instructions for creating a plurality of thumbnail images based on the sorted and filtered plurality of data elements,

instructions for displaying a graph including the plurality of thumbnail images, a position of each of the plurality of thumbnail images on the graph being indicative of one or more associated attributes,

instructions for zooming in on the displayed graph, in response to receiving a command from a user, such that a larger, higher-resolution image corresponding to at least one of the plurality of thumbnail images is displayed, the larger, higher-resolution image including at least one selectable link, and

instructions for zooming out from the displayed larger, higher-resolution image such that the displayed graph including the plurality of thumbnail images is displayed.

20. The processing device of claim 19, wherein the memory further comprises:

instructions for replacing the larger, higher-resolution image with a corresponding one of the plurality of data elements when the displayed larger, higher-resolution image is enlarged by at least a predetermined amount as a result of zooming-in on the displayed graph.