TECHNIQUES FOR HIERARCHICAL REPORT TOOL SESSION MANAGEMENT

• US 20100077074A1
• Filed: 09/25/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teradata US, Inc. (Teradata Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Teradata US, Inc. (Teradata Corporation)
• Inventors: Tebay, Jonathan Hugh, Jeng, Dennis, Papierniak, Karen
• Granted Patent: US 8,234,367 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1438 Restarting or rejuvenating
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results

Abstract

Techniques are presented for hierarchical report tool session management. A user interacts with a hierarchical reporting tool during a first session and reaches a specific nested level within the tool for a particular hierarchy being accessed by the user. At some point in time the user exits the tool (normally or abnormally). The specific nested level is maintained on behalf of the user. So, when the user initiates a second and subsequent session with the tool, the user is presented with the specific nested level when the tool is started for that subsequent session.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method, comprising:

providing a reporting tool to a user; and

recording a nested level reached by the user within the reporting tool when the user exits the reporting tool.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing further includes providing the reporting tool via a World-Wide Web (WWW) browser front-end interface to a backend data warehouse.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing further includes providing the reporting tool as a hierarchical reporting tool having multiple levels, wherein the nested level is at least one level below a top level of a particular hierarchy loaded in the hierarchical reporting tool.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein recording further includes affirmatively asking the user via a popup interface window presented to the user whether to record the nested level.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein recording further includes accessing a profile option associated with the user to determine that the nested level is to be recorded.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein recording further includes detecting an abnormal exit of the reporting tool when the user is detected as exiting the reporting tool.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising, detecting a subsequent session to the reporting tool made by the user and restoring the user to the nested level within the reporting tool upon startup of the reporting tool for that subsequent session.

8. A machine-implemented method, comprising:

detecting a login of a user to a reporting tool;

acquiring previously saved session metadata for the user when the user last accessed the reporting tool during a prior session; and

starting the reporting tool in a state that represents the saved session metadata on behalf of the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein detecting further includes interacting with the user via a World-Wide Web (WWW) browser, which processes the reporting tool or at least a portion of the reporting tool.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein acquiring further includes recognizing the saved session metadata as a last level accessed by the user within a particular hierarchy associated with the reporting tool, and the particular hierarchy was last used by the user in the prior session.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein acquiring further recognizing the saved session metadata as a default level that the user previously indicated via a profile setting for the reporting tool, wherein the default level is at least one level below a top level of a particular hierarchy associated with the reporting tool.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein starting further includes restoring the state as a drill down path within a particular hierarchy of the reporting tool that the user last accessed during the prior session.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein restoring further includes recognizing the drill down path as the saved session metadata.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein restoring further includes transparently replaying the drill down path within the reporting tool before presenting a first screen of the reporting tool to the user.

15. A machine-implemented system, comprising:

a reporting tool implemented in a computer-readable storage medium and to process on a computer of a network; and

a session manager implemented in a computer-readable storage medium and to process on the computer or a different computer of the network;

wherein a user interacts with the reporting tool and navigates to a particular nested level during a session with the reporting tool and then exits the reporting tool and terminates the session, the session manager saves the nested level as a drill down path to automatically recreate for the user within the reporting tool when the user initiates subsequent sessions with the reporting tool.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the nested level is saved for a specific hierarchy used within the reporting tool by the user.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the session manager saves additional nested levels for the subsequent sessions of the user with the reporting tool, each additional nested level associated with a different hierarchy associated with the reporting tool.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the specific hierarchy is resolved by an identity associated with the user or a role assignment assigned to the user when the user authenticates to the reporting tool or to a network having the reporting tool.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the reporting tool is accessed via a World-Wide Web (WWW) browser by the user.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein a last hierarchy used and the nested level of the drill down path are saved by the session manager as a cookie on a client of the user and reacquired by the session manager with each subsequent session initiated by the user.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the session manager saves a specific drill down hierarchy for each report used by the user in the reporting tool.