Visual Representation of Chart Scaling

• US 20130215154A1
• Filed: 02/16/2012
• Published: 08/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Ponomarev, Peter Seraphim, Duignan, Matthew P., Rhodes, Christina L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,552,557 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/672
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/14 Solving problems related to the presentation of information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

Techniques for visual representation of chart scaling are described. In implementations, a chart is employed to display data associated with a resource. Examples of such a resource include a computer hardware resource, a network resource, a financial resource, a commodity (e.g., a manufactured commodity), and so on. In implementations, a chart is associated with a scale that corresponds to a set of data values represented in the chart. Further, a chart can be rescaled to display data values in a variety of different scales, e.g., that correspond to different sets of data values. In at least some embodiments, a scale mark is provided which provides a visual indication of a scale represented in a chart. When the chart is rescaled, the scale mark is repositioned to indicate a change in scale. Thus, a scale mark can be dynamically repositioned to visually indicate different chart scales.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable storage media comprising instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to implement at least one module configured to:

ascertain that a chart that is configured to track data values for a resource is to be rescaled to a different scale; and

reposition a scale mark for the chart to visually represent the different scale.

2. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the resource comprises a computing device resource, and wherein the at least one module is configured to ascertain that the chart is to be rescaled based on a change in resource data values for the computing device resource.

3. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one module is configured to dynamically reposition the scale mark based on the chart being rescaled to multiple different scales.

4. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one module is configured to ascertain that the chart is to be rescaled by:

comparing resource data values to chart data values associated with a chart scale; and

determining that the resource data values do not correspond to the chart data values.

5. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the chart comprises scale lines that correspond to different scales, and wherein the at least one module is configured to reposition the scale mark from one scale line to a different scale line to visually represent a transition to the different scale.

6. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 5, wherein the different scales correspond to different sets of the data values for the resource.

7. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one module is configured to reposition the scale mark by:

determining that the scale mark is to be repositioned to a different scale mark position that is more than one scale mark position from a current position of the scale mark; and

positioning the scale mark at one or more intermediate scale mark positions until the scale mark reaches the different scale mark position.

8. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one module is configured to:

ascertain that the chart is to be rescaled based on polling for changes in the data values according to a pre-determined polling rate; and

reposition the scale mark based on the polling rate.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

positioning a scale mark for a chart to visually indicate a scale for the chart, the scale being based on data values associated with a resource;

rescaling the chart to a different scale based on a change in the data values for the resource; and

repositioning the scale mark to correspond to the different scale.

10. A method as described in claim 9, wherein the scale and the different scale are associated with different discrete sets of the data values associated with the resource.

11. A method as described in claim 9, wherein the chart includes multiple different positions in which the scale mark can be positioned, each of the multiple different positions corresponding to a particular scale, wherein said repositioning comprises repositioning the scale mark to at least one of the multiple different positions.

12. A method as described in claim 9, wherein said rescaling is responsive to ascertaining that the one or more data values do not correspond to the scale for the chart, said ascertaining comprising at least one of:

ascertaining that one or more of the data values are outside of a set of chart data values associated with the scale;

or

ascertaining that the one or more of the data values are within a certain value proximity to a highest chart data value and/or a lowest chart data value associated with the scale.

13. A method as described in claim 9, wherein said repositioning comprises:

determining that the scale mark is to be repositioned to a different scale mark position that corresponds to the different scale and that is more than one scale mark position from a current position of the scale mark; and

incrementally positioning the scale mark at one or more intermediate scale mark positions until the scale mark reaches the different scale mark position, the intermediate scale mark positions corresponding to one or more intermediate scales between the scale and the different scale.

14. A method as described in claim 9, wherein said repositioning comprises:

determining that a different scale mark position to which the scale mark is to be repositioned is more than one position from a current scale mark position;

responsive to said determining, ascertaining whether a polling rate at which checks for rescaling are performed exceeds a threshold polling rate; and

if the polling rate does not exceed the threshold polling rate, repositioning the scale mark to one or more intermediate scale mark positions until the scale mark reaches the different scale mark position;

or

if the polling rate exceeds the threshold polling rate, repositioning the scale mark to the different scale mark position without incrementing the scale mark to the one or more intermediate scale mark positions.

15. One or more computer-readable storage media comprising instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to implement a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising:

a resource chart configured to display data values for a resource; and

a scale mark that is configured to be dynamically adjusted relative to the resource chart to provide a visual indication of scales for the resource chart.

16. One or more computer-readable storage media claim 15, wherein the GUI comprises scale lines that correspond to the scales, and wherein the scale mark is configured to be dynamically adjusted to different of the scale lines to visually indicate which of the scales is a current scale for the resource chart.

17. One or more computer-readable storage media claim 15, wherein the scale mark is configured to be dynamically adjusted to different positions within the resource chart to provide a visual indication that the resource chart is scaled to a particular scale of the scales.

18. One or more computer-readable storage media claim 15, wherein the GUI comprises one or more resource indicia associated with at least one different resource, at least one of the resource indicia including:

a sub-chart that indicates data values for the at least one different resource associated with the one or more resource indicia; and

a different scale mark associated with the sub-chart that provides a visual indication of a scale for the sub-chart.

19. One or more computer-readable storage media claim 15, wherein the GUI comprises a rate control that, if selected, enables a user to specify a rate at which a polling operation is performed to check if the resource chart is to be rescaled.

20. One or more computer-readable storage media claim 15, wherein the GUI is implemented as part of a diagnostic tool for a computing device, and wherein the resource comprises at least one of a hardware resource or a network resource for the computing device.