GRAPHICAL MANIPULATION OF CHART ELEMENTS FOR INTERACTING WITH CHART DATA
First Claim
1. A method for interacting with data elements used to construct a chart, comprising steps for:
- receiving at least one data set comprising a plurality of data elements;
automatically rendering a chart having a user selected chart type from corresponding data elements of the at least one data set;
wherein the chart includes a plurality of chart elements that provide graphical representations of corresponding data elements;
displaying the chart on a display device;
using a graphical user interface (GUI) to modify a visual representation of one or more of the chart elements; and
automatically modifying one or more corresponding data elements of the at least one data set to correspond to the visual modifications to the one or more chart elements.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A “Charting Animator” enhances computer-based charting/graphing systems by rendering dynamic animations of chart transitions. In general, when a user changes from one chart type to another, adds new data to a chart, or changes, sorts or deletes data, a new chart is generated to replace the old chart. Conventional charting systems simply replace the existing chart with the new chart. In contrast to conventional systems, the Charting Animator renders animated transitions that dynamically morph the original chart into the new chart. Consequently, these animations avoid abrupt changes that can disorient users. Examples of these animations include animating changes from one chart family to another (e.g., changing from a “Bar Chart” to a “Pie Chart”), animating changes from one chart type within a chart family to another chart type (e.g., changing 2D Bar Charts to 3D Bar Charts or Stacked Bar Charts), animating data changes, animating sorts, etc.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for interacting with data elements used to construct a chart, comprising steps for:
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receiving at least one data set comprising a plurality of data elements; automatically rendering a chart having a user selected chart type from corresponding data elements of the at least one data set; wherein the chart includes a plurality of chart elements that provide graphical representations of corresponding data elements; displaying the chart on a display device; using a graphical user interface (GUI) to modify a visual representation of one or more of the chart elements; and automatically modifying one or more corresponding data elements of the at least one data set to correspond to the visual modifications to the one or more chart elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A physical computer readable storage media having computer executable instructions stored thereon for interacting with chart data used to render a chart on a display device, comprising instructions for:
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receiving a set of data elements comprising chart data; selecting a chart type from a list of available chart types; rendering a chart of the selected chart type on a display device as a function of the set of data elements, said chart being composed of a plurality of chart elements, each chart element providing a graphical representation of one or more of the data elements; modifying a visual appearance of one or more of the chart elements via a graphical user interface (GUI); and for each modified chart element, automatically modifying one or more corresponding data elements to correspond to the modifications of the visual appearance of the modified chart elements. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for interacting with charts via a graphical user interface (GUI), comprising using a computing device for:
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receiving a set of data elements, said data elements representing values for defining graphical elements of a chart; selecting a chart type; rendering a chart of the selected chart type on a display device using the set of data elements to define each graphical element of the chart; using a GUI to modify one or more of the graphical elements; and automatically modifying one or more corresponding data elements to correspond to the modifications to the one or more graphical elements. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification