System, method, and software application for displaying data from a web service in a visual map

• US 20090228785A1
• Filed: 11/10/2008
• Published: 09/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corel Corporation (Corel Holdings LP)
• Original Assignee: MindJet LLC (Corel Holdings LP)
• Inventors: Bashford, Steven, Jetter, Michael B., Creekbaum, William J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,047,388 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/239
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/835 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/86 Mapping to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/105 Human resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

The present invention provides a system, method, and software application for enabling a user to view data from an external data source in a visual map, wherein the external data source has a web services interface. Visual mapping software on a computer provides a visual mapping interface in which a user can create, edit, and/or view a visual map. Within the visual mapping interface, the visual mapping software provides the user with an option to obtain data from one or more data sources associated with a web service. In response to the user selecting a data source associated with a web service, the visual mapping software builds a web service request for the web service associated with the selected data source. The visual mapping application makes a call to the applicable web service with the web service request. The visual mapping application subsequently receives data from the web service and transforms the data into a format that can be used to generate visual map data. The visual mapping software then displays the data in a visual map.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a user to view data from an external data source in a visual map, wherein the external data source has a web service interface, the method comprising:

building a web service request for the external data source;

sending the web service request to the web service associated with the external data source;

receiving data from the web service in response to the web service request;

transforming the data into a format that can be used to generate visual map content; and

displaying the data in the visual map.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data from the web service is received in XML format and an XSLT transformation is applied to the data from the web service to transform the data into another XML format used to generate visual map content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the web service request is sent upon the launch of the visual map.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the external data source is a CRM system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the external data source is a server that provides weather information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the external data source is a server that provides stock quote information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the external data source is a server that provides human resource information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the external data source is a database with a web service interface.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the external data source is a computer having a web service interface.

9. A method for enabling a user to view data from an external data source in a visual map, wherein the external data source has a web service interface, the method comprising:

providing a visual mapping interface on a computer;

providing the user with an option, within the visual mapping interface, to obtain data from one or more external data sources associated with a web service;

in response to the user selecting an external data source associated with a web service, determining whether or not the web service is associated with any user-configurable parameters;

in response to determining that the web service is associated with one or more user-configurable parameters, enabling the user to enter such user-configurable parameter(s);

building a web service request that includes any user-configurable parameters and any default parameters for the web service;

sending the web service request to the web service;

receiving data from the web service in response to the web service request;

transforming the data into a format that can be used to generate visual map content; and

displaying the data in the visual map.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the user with an option to obtain data from one or more data sources associated with a web service comprises displaying a map part for each such data source.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a user selects a data source by adding the map part to the visual map.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the data from the web service is received in XML format and an XSLT transformation is applied to the data from the web service to transform the data into another XML format used to generate visual map content.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the external data source is a CRM system.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the external data source is a server that provides weather information.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the external data source is a server that provides stock quote information.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the external data source is a server that provides human resource information.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the external data source is a database with a web service interface.

30. The method of claim 9, wherein the external data source is a computer having a web service interface.

18. A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising code, that, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform the following method:

building a web service request for an external data source;

sending the web service request to a web service associated with the external data source;

receiving data from the web service in response to the web service request;

transforming the data into a format that can be used to generate visual map content; and

displaying the data in a visual map.

19. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the data from the web service is received in XML format and an XSLT transformation is applied to the data from the web service to transform the data into another XML format used to generate visual map content.

20. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the web service request is sent upon the launch of the visual map.

21. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the external data source is a CRM system.

22. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the external data source is a server that provides weather information.

23. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the external data source is a server that provides stock quote information.

24. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the external data source is a server that provides human resource information.

25. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the external data source is a database with a web service interface.

31. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the external data source is a computer having a web service interface.

26. A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising code, that, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform the following method:

providing a visual mapping interface on a computer;

providing the user with an option, within the visual mapping interface, to obtain data from one or more external data sources associated with a web service;

in response to the user selecting an external data source associated with a web service, determining whether or not the web service is associated with any user-configurable parameters;

in response to determining that the web service is associated with one or more user-configurable parameters, enabling the user to enter such user-configurable parameter(s);

building a web service request that includes any user-configurable parameters and any default parameters for the web service;

sending the web service request to the web service;

receiving data from the web service in response to the web service request;

transforming the data into a format that can be used to generate visual map content; and

displaying the data in a visual map.

27. The computer program of claim 26, wherein providing the user with an option to obtain data from one or more data sources associated with a web service comprises displaying a map part for each such data source.

28. The computer program of claim 27, wherein a user selects a data source by adding the map part to the visual map.

32. The computer program of claim 26, wherein the external data source is a computer having a web service interface.