SIMPLIFYING THE PRESENTATION OF A VISUALLY COMPLEX SEMANTIC MODEL WITHIN A GRAPHICAL MODELING APPLICATION

• US 20090278847A1
• Filed: 05/06/2008
• Published: 11/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BLANCETT, BRAD L., MAKIN, NARINDER, SWANKE, JOHN E., ELDER, MICHAEL D., BERG, DANIEL C., HOLLIDAY, CHAD M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,235,909 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/428
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

A model simplification tool can receive a command to simplify the presentation of a visually complex semantic model from a graphical modeling application. The visually complex semantic model can be comprised of a multitude of object representations and their associations, such that the usability of the model is impaired. An association status can be determined for each object representation, which can designate the object representation as autonomous, containment, or subordinate. The presentation of the visually complex semantic model can be consolidated based on the association status of object representations. Subordinate objects can be nested within containment objects to produce a simplified semantic model. The simplified semantic model can be rendered within the graphical modeling application.

Claims

1. A method for simplifying the presentation of a visually complex semantic model comprising:

receiving a user-selected command to simplify a presentation of a visually complex semantic model by a model simplification tool from a graphical modeling application, wherein the visually complex semantic model comprises a plurality of object representations and a plurality of associations between said plurality of object representations, wherein said plurality of object representations and said plurality of associations impair a user-defined level of usability;

determining an association status for each object representation in the visually complex semantic model according to a plurality of simplification rules, wherein the association status indicates a level of association for an object representation, and, wherein the association status designates the object representation as at least one of an autonomous object, a containment object, and a subordinate object; and

transforming the presentation of the visually complex semantic model using the association status of each object representation, wherein subordinate objects are nested within containment objects to produce a simplified semantic model, wherein the simplified semantic model is able to be rendered within a presentation area of the graphical modeling application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining and consolidating steps are performed by a model simplification tool utilizing a plurality of simplification rules defining object and association transformations.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the consolidating step further comprises:

compiling a list of at least one subordinate object for each containment object;

generating a display structure for the compiled list; and

incorporating the display structure into the containment object.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the display structure comprises at least one of a list structure and a tree structure, wherein branches of the tree structure are able to be expanded and collapsed in response to a user-selected command.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein a presentation of the display structure within the containment object when rendered within the graphical modeling application is controlled by a user-selectable mechanism, wherein a first setting presents the display structure within the containment object and a second setting removes the presentation of the display structure from the containment object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps of claim 1 are performed by at least one machine in accordance with at least one computer program stored in a computer readable media, said computer programming having a plurality of code sections that are executable by the at least one machine.

7. A simplified semantic model comprising:

a plurality of subordinate objects visually representing objects that are dependently-related to other objects;

a plurality of containment objects graphically representing objects that contain at least one subordinate object;

a plurality of autonomous objects graphically representing objects that are associatively parallel to at least one of an autonomous object, a containment object, and a subordinate object; and

a plurality of associations configured to graphically represent relationships between the plurality of subordinate objects, the plurality of containment objects, and the plurality of autonomous objects.

8. The simplified semantic model of claim 7, wherein a containment object further comprises:

a display area configured to visually present the at least one subordinate object related to the containment object, wherein the at least one subordinate object is presented in a textual manner as at least one of a list and a tree.

9. The simplified semantic model of claim 8, wherein a presentation of the display area is controlled by a user-selectable control mechanism within a graphical modeling application, wherein a first setting presents the display area within the containment object and a second setting removes the presentation of the display area from the containment object.

10. The simplified semantic model of claim 8, wherein a presentation of a subordinate object within the display area includes a denotation of an association type between the subordinate object and the containment object.

11. The simplified semantic model of claim 7, wherein the plurality of subordinate objects further comprises:

a plurality of redundant objects configured to represent a circular relationship between at least three objects, wherein each redundant object is denoted with a unique identifier.

12. The simplified semantic model of claim 7, wherein a configuration of the components of claim 11 are produced by a model simplification tool, wherein the configuration is visually rendered within a graphical modeling application.

13. A system for simplifying a visually complex semantic model comprising:

a plurality of simplification rules configured to define guidelines for handling a simplification of object representations and corresponding associations contained within a visually complex semantic model; and

a model simplification tool configured to convert the visually complex semantic model into a simplified semantic model based upon the plurality of simplification rules, wherein dependently-related objects are nested within respective associatively superior objects.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the model simplification tool further comprises:

a redundant object handler configured to resolve an infinite containment loop encountered by the model simplification tool when creating the simplified semantic model, wherein the infinite containment loop represents a circular reference between related object representations in the visually complex semantic model.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the redundant object handler incorporates multiple instances of a redundant object representation into the simplified semantic model, wherein each instance is identified by a unique identifier.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the model simplification tool is invoked from a graphical modeling application that is graphically presenting the visually complex semantic model.