Report generation system and method
First Claim
1. In a computer system including a display for displaying tabular or graphical information, and a memory for storing a database of transactions, each transaction having a plurality of attributes, each attribute having a value, a method for generating a secondary report, containing at least one transaction, directly from a primary report displayed on the display, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a primary report filter having attributes with specified values;
applying the primary report filter to the database of transactions to produce a primary report, the primary report containing at least one dynamically created data element, each such data element summarizing a subset of selected transactions from the database of transactions, but not existing as a transaction in the database;
displaying the primary report on the display;
receiving a user input selecting one of the data elements contained in the primary report;
generating a secondary report filter from the selected data element, the secondary report filter having attributes with values that correspond to the values of the attributes for the subset of transactions summarized by the selected data element;
applying the secondary report filter to the database of transactions to generate a secondary report, the secondary report containing all transactions having attributes with values specified by the secondary report filter, such that the transactions in the secondary report are the transactions in the subset of transactions summarized by the selected data element in the primary report; and
displaying the secondary report on the display.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A report generation system and method generates a secondary report containing detailed information concerning a specific data element of a primary report. To generate the secondary report, the user first selects a data element on the on-screen primary report using either a mouse or a keyboard. The user then activates a command by either selecting from a menu, typing a command keystroke, or clicking the mouse. The system then generates a secondary report using new parameters determined by the particular data element selected by the user.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. In a computer system including a display for displaying tabular or graphical information, and a memory for storing a database of transactions, each transaction having a plurality of attributes, each attribute having a value, a method for generating a secondary report, containing at least one transaction, directly from a primary report displayed on the display, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a primary report filter having attributes with specified values; applying the primary report filter to the database of transactions to produce a primary report, the primary report containing at least one dynamically created data element, each such data element summarizing a subset of selected transactions from the database of transactions, but not existing as a transaction in the database; displaying the primary report on the display; receiving a user input selecting one of the data elements contained in the primary report; generating a secondary report filter from the selected data element, the secondary report filter having attributes with values that correspond to the values of the attributes for the subset of transactions summarized by the selected data element; applying the secondary report filter to the database of transactions to generate a secondary report, the secondary report containing all transactions having attributes with values specified by the secondary report filter, such that the transactions in the secondary report are the transactions in the subset of transactions summarized by the selected data element in the primary report; and displaying the secondary report on the display. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer system for generating a primary and a secondary report, the primary report comprising at least one dynamically created data element summarizing transactions in a database of the computer system, the secondary report generated from a selected data element in the primary report, the system comprising:
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a memory unit containing a database of transactions, each transaction having a plurality of attributes, each attribute having a value; a display, operatively coupled to the memory unit, for displaying the primary report, the secondary report, and primary report parameters; an input device, operatively coupled to the display, and receiving inputs selecting particular ones of the primary report parameters displayed on the display, further receiving inputs specifying values for the selected primary report parameters, and further receiving an input selecting a data element in a primary report displayed on the display; a primary report filter module, operatively coupled to input device, and receiving therefrom the specified values of the primary report parameters, and creating a primary report filter having attributes with the specified values; primary report module, operatively coupled to the primary report filter module and receiving therefrom the primary report filter, and further coupled to the memory unit, the primary report module applying the primary report filter to the database of transactions in the memory unit to produce a primary report containing at least one dynamically created data element, each such data element summarizing a subset of selected transactions from the database of transactions, but not existing as a transaction stored in the database, the primary report module further coupled to the display and providing thereto the primary report; a secondary report filter module, operatively coupled to the primary report module and receiving therefrom a selected data element, and generating a secondary filter having attributes with values that correspond to the values of the attributes for the subset of transactions summarized by the selected data element; and a secondary report module, operatively coupled to the secondary report filter module to receive therefrom the secondary report filter, and further coupled to the memory unit, and applying the secondary report filters to the database of transactions to create a secondary report containing all transactions having attributes specified by the secondary report filter, such that the transactions in the secondary report are the transactions in the subset of transactions summarized by the selected data element in the primary report, the secondary report module further coupled to the display and providing thereto the secondary report. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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Specification