Extending OLAP Navigation Employing Analytic Workflows

• US 20090287675A1
• Filed: 05/16/2008
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Whitney, William R., Dorrell, Wade C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,478,715 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Analytic workflows for performing data analysis and other related operations are stored in an analytic workflow library and provided to a user upon selection of data from a data store. A workflow manager may rank the workflows based on a number of ranking algorithms prior to presentation. User selected workflows are executed in conjunction with relevant external applications and the analysis result provided to the user through the user'"'"'s client application used to select the data. Workflows and associated interfaces may be received from a variety of sources and integrated into the workflow framework for enhancing data analysis.

Claims

1. A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device for data navigation employing analytic workflows, the method comprising:

receiving a user selection of a data point through a client application;

determining available analytic workflows applicable to the selected data point;

presenting the available analytic workflows applicable to the selected data point to the user;

receiving another user selection of an applicable analytic workflow;

executing the selected analytic workflow on the selected data point; and

presenting a result of the executed analytic workflow to the user through the client application.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ranking the available analytic workflows applicable to the selected data point employing at least one ranking algorithm; and

presenting the ranked analytic workflows to the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the analytic workflows are ranked based on a total weight factor derived from executing a plurality of ranking algorithms and assigning a weight factor to a result of each ranking algorithm.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the ranking algorithms include at least one from a set of:

ranking based on a number of matched properties, ranking based on least-recently-used, and ranking based on user community voting.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user selection of a plurality of applicable analytic workflows; and

executing the selected plurality of analytic workflows on the selected data point, wherein the workflows are serialized in an analytic workflow library for storage and distribution.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein data navigation activities are serialized and include one of:

an embedded copy of native serialization of visualization and queries required for the visualization and a link to native serialization content such that the visualization and the required queries are not duplicated for each serialized analytic workflow.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the execution of the analytic workflow includes launching of at least one application external to the client application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the available analytic workflows applicable to the selected data point are presented to the user through a secondary user interface associated with the client application.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

upon selection of at least one analytic workflow through the secondary user interface, providing a tertiary user interface for receiving at least one operational parameter associated with the selected analytic workflow from the user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the result of the executed analytic workflow is presented to the user as one of:

a chart, a diagram, a data listing, and a comprehensive report.

15. The system of claim 4, wherein the “

required”

properties are exposed such that the analytic workflow library is readily searchable.

11. A system for data navigation employing analytic workflows, the system comprising:

a data store for storing data to be navigated;

an analytic workflow library for storing analytic workflows provide from a plurality of sources; and

at least one server configured to facilitate a hosted service for data navigation, wherein the hosted service includes;

a search interface configured to connect to and index the analytic workflow library;

a host model to be hosted within a client application employed by a user, wherein the host model provides analytic workflow functionality from data displayed by the client application;

a host view specific to the client application, configured to;

connect with a user interface of the client application;

in response to receiving a user selection of a data point from the data displayed by the client application, collect a typed tuple and other context;

pass the typed tuple and other context to the host model;

in response to receiving a ranked set of analytic workflows, provide a secondary user interface for the user to select one of the analytic workflows; and

in response to receiving the user selection of the analytic workflow, pass the selected analytic workflow to the host model for execution; and

a ranking module for prioritizing analytic workflows applicable to the user selected data point based on executing at least one ranking algorithm.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the host view is further configured to:

filter the ranked set of analytic workflows based on a predefined criterion prior to providing them to the user through the secondary user interface for enhanced user-friendliness.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the analytic workflow library is one of a virtual data store and a physical data store.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the analytic workflow library includes at least one from a set of:

“

required”

properties necessary to initiate a first activity in the selected workflow;

“

optional”

properties necessary to complete all activities in the selected workflow, but not necessary to start the first activity;

activities associated with user interface metadata for obtaining the optional properties from the user; and

navigation activity that is a final activity in the selected workflow generating a new visualization for the user based on the “

required”

properties.

16. A computer-readable storage medium with instructions encoded thereon for data navigation employing analytic workflows, the instructions comprising:

receiving a user selection of a data point through a client application;

determining available analytic workflows applicable to the selected data point, wherein the available analytic workflows are serialized in an analytic workflow library for storage and distribution;

ranking the available analytic workflows applicable to the selected data point employing at least one ranking algorithm;

presenting the ranked analytic workflows applicable to the selected data point to the user;

receiving another user selection of an applicable analytic workflow;

executing the selected analytic workflow on the selected data point by launching at least one application external to the client application; and

presenting a result of the executed analytic workflow to the user through the client application as one of;

a chart, a diagram, a data listing, and a comprehensive report.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising:

filter the ranked analytic workflows based on a predefined relevance algorithm prior to providing them to the user.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising:

providing a runtime for the selected workflow to enable the selected workflow to coordinate launching and execution of a plurality of applications external to the client application.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the available workflows are provided to an analytic workflow library by a plurality of sources, and wherein the available workflows are ranked based on voting among a community of users.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further comprise:

in response to the user selection of the data point, retrieving a typed tuple and other context associated with the selected data point, and passing the typed tuple and the other context between components of the data navigation system for ranking, selection, and execution of the analytic workflows.