System and method for editing and viewing a very wide flat file

• US 6,035,309 A
• Filed: 06/26/1997
• Issued: 03/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kelley, Edward Emile, Dauerer, Norman Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BOURQUE, ROBERT D
• Application Number:
  US08/883,266
• Time in Patent Office: 985 Days
• Field of Search: 707/503, 707/904, 707/530
• US Class Current: 715/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

A system provides for the easy editing of wide files for convenient viewing of selected columns, through the use of a function key that invokes a window which lists multiple possible combinations of views of the file which can be selected to present a choice of fields to be viewed simultaneously on the same screen. The fields represent a collection of columns which are a subset of the columns of the entire file. The system presents selected columns of data in a narrow width to facilitate viewing, comprehending, and/or editing the data.

Claims

1. A data processing system for editing and viewing of a very wide flat file containing more than the number of columns of data adapted to be displayed on a multiple column display screen of a display unit, said system comprising a central processing unit, a random access storage device,

a terminal with function key elements and said display unit with said display screen of said display unit being capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns of data in a very wide flat file at one time, and said system including a system editor for operating in an edit mode,

a) means for storing data in said random access storage device having a number of columns greater than said number of columns that can be displayed at one time by said display screen, said data being adapted to be viewed in a number of views which are available to said system from a said very wide flat file,

b) means for retrieving data from said storage device from said very wide flat file into said processing unit, and

c) means for displaying a list of available views in a window on said display screen, means for operating said system editor in the edit mode to edit data to provide a view of said very wide flat file which view has been interactively selected for managing the display of said columns of data from said very wide flat file on said display screen including interactive user operated editing means employing said system editor in connection with a display on said display screen of said terminal for interactive user selection with function key elements of a view of desired columns of said very wide flat file to be displayed including selection of sequences of said columns of data of said very wide flat file to be juxtaposed in the display on said screen, and

said system being adapted for working against said very wide flat file prepared without a plural file relational database management system operating on more than one file at a time.

2. A data processing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said interactive means comprises means for user actuation of said system to select said columns of data in said very wide flat file through actuation of predetermined function key elements on said terminal,

said system operating without requiring a plural file relational database management system.

3. A data processing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the system provides selection of a list of columns of data by steps as follows:

a) said flat file including said columns of data which can be viewed in a number of views which are available to said system, displaying on said display screen said window of all of said available views for said file being viewed, said views being available to be selected by user interaction initiated with function key elements,

b) responding to the selection of said view of said flat file to be displayed, and

c) displaying on said display screen the selected view of said flat file.

4. A data processing system in accordance with claim 3, wherein said selected view of said flat file is presented in the display on said display screen by said system editor operating in the edit mode.

5. A data processing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the system performs the steps as follows:

a) getting a said very wide flat file,

b) opening said very wide flat file,

c) displaying said very wide flat file on said display screen,

d) displaying on said display screen a window of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being viewed,

e) responding to the selection with said function key elements of the view of said very wide flat file to be displayed by said display screen, and

f) displaying the selected view of said very wide flat file on said display screen.

6. A data processing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the system performs the steps as follows:

a) getting a said very wide flat file,

b) opening said very wide flat file,

c) displaying on said display screen said very wide flat file,

d) displaying on said display screen a window of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being viewed,

e) responding to the user selection by user interaction with said function key elements said display of said window of the available views of said very wide flat file to be displayed, and

f) displaying on said display screen the selected view of said very wide flat file.

7. A method of operating a data processing system comprising a central processing unit, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key elements and with a display unit with a display screen capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns of data of a very wide flat file at one time, said system including a system editor for operating in an edit mode to edit a view of a very wide flat file, said system operating upon said very wide flat file without requiring a plural file relational database management system operating on more than one file at a time, said method comprising:

a) storing data in very wide flat files in said random access storage device having a number of columns greater than said number that can be displayed at one time by said display screen, said data being adapted to be viewed in a number of views which are available to said system,

b) retrieving data from a said very wide flat file in said storage device into said processing unit, and

c) displaying on said display screen a list of available views in a window on said display unit, operating said system editor in the edit mode to edit data to provide a view of said very wide flat file which view has been interactively selected by one of said function key elements for managing the display of said columns of data on said display screen including interactive user operated editing means employing said system editor in connection with a display on said terminal for interactive user selection of a view of desired columns of said very wide flat file to be displayed including selection of sequences of columns of data to be juxtaposed in the display on said screen from said very wide flat file.

8. A data processing method in accordance with claim 7, wherein said interactive means comprises means for user actuation of said system to select said columns of data through actuation of predetermined function key elements on said terminal.

9. A data processing method in accordance with claim 7, wherein the system provides selection of a list by steps as follows:

a) said very wide flat file including columns of data which can be viewed in a number of views which are available to said system, displaying on said display play screen a window of all of said available views for said very wide flat file being viewed, said views being available to be selected by user interaction with said function key elements,

b) responding to the selection of said view of said very wide flat file to be displayed on said display screen, and

c) displaying on said display screen the selected view of said very wide flat file.

10. A data processing method in accordance with claim 9, wherein said selected view of said very wide flat file is presented in the display on said display screen by said system editor operating in the edit mode.

11. A data processing method in accordance with claim 7, wherein the system performs the steps as follows:

a) getting a very wide flat file,

b) opening said very wide flat file,

c) displaying said very wide flat file on said display screen,

d) displaying on said display screen a window of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being viewed,

e) responding to the user selection by user interaction with said function key elements of the view of said very wide flat file to be displayed on said display screen, and

f) displaying on said display screen the selected view of said very wide flat file on said display screen.

12. A method of editing a very wide flat file in a data processing system with a system editor operating in an edit mode without requiring a plural file relational database management system operating on more than one file at a time, and including a central processing unit with a screen manager, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key elements and with a display screen capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns at one time, means for storing data including very wide flat files in said random access storage device having a number of columns greater than said number that can be displayed at one time by said display screen, said method including a program performing the functions comprising:

retrieving data from a very wide flat file in said storage device into said processing unit, and

managing the display of said columns of data including interactive means at said terminal for selection of sequences of columns of data to be juxtaposed on said display screen from said very wide flat file,

calling the screen manager, then finding a list of viewing options for said very wide flat file, then displaying said very wide flat file on said display screen, and making a decision as to whether to end said program and in the case of a negative determination making a decision as to whether to select a list of viewing options, which in the case of an affirmative decision the program branches to presenting on said display screen of a list the available views for said very wide flat file being edited,

selecting a view from said list of available views with said function key elements, and

then presenting a window on said display screen of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being edited in an option list table,

invoking an edit macro to call the data to be viewed with the columns to be displayed and permitting the user to edit said very wide flat file being displayed with the system editor by operation of said function keys for selecting columns of data from said option list, and

then displaying on said display screen said very wide flat file edited with the sets of columns of data selected from said option list.

13. A method of editing a very wide flat file in a data processing system with a system editor operating in an edit mode without requiring a relational database management system operating on more than one file at a time, and including a central processing unit with a screen manager, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key means and a display screen capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns at one time, means for storing data in said random access storage device having a number of columns greater than said number that can be displayed at one time by said display screen, said method including a program performing the functions comprising:

retrieving data from said storage device into said processing unit, and

managing the display on said screen of said columns of data including interactive function key means at said terminal for selection of sequences of columns of data to be juxtaposed on said screen,

calling the screen manager, then finding a list of viewing options for said very wide flat file,

then displaying said very wide flat file on said screen, and making a decision as to whether to end said program and in the case of a negative determination making a decision as to whether to select a list of viewing options, which in the case of an affirmative decision the program branches to presenting a list of the available views for said very wide flat file being edited,

selecting a view of said very wide flat file from said list of available views,

then presenting a window on said screen of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being edited in an option list table,

then invoking an edit macro to call the data to be viewed with the columns to be displayed and permitting the user to edit said very wide flat file being displayed with the system editor selecting columns of data from said option list, and

then displaying said very wide flat file edited with the sets of columns of data selected from said option list.

14. A method of editing a very wide flat file in a data processing system with a system editor operating in an edit mode without requiring a relational database management system (RDMS), without operating on more than one file at a time, and including a central processing unit with a screen manager, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key means and with a display screen capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns of said very wide flat file at one time, means for storing data in said random access storage device having a number of columns greater than said predetermined number of columns of said flat file that can be displayed at one time by said display screen, said method including a program for performing the functions comprising:

retrieving data including a said very wide flat file from said storage device into said processing unit, and

managing the display of said columns of data of said very wide flat file including interactive means at said terminal for selection of sequences of columns of data to be juxtaposed on said screen,

calling the screen manager, then finding a list of viewing options for said very wide flat file, then displaying said very wide flat file, and making a decision as to whether to end said program and in the case of a negative determination making a decision as to whether to select a list of viewing options, which in the case of an affirmative decision the program branches to presenting a list of the available views for said very wide flat file being edited,

selecting a view from said list of available views, and

then presenting a window of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being edited in an option list table,

invoking an edit macro to call the data to be viewed with the columns to be displayed and permitting the user to employ said function key means to edit said very wide flat file being displayed with the system editor selecting columns of data from said option list, and

then displaying said very wide flat file edited with the sets of columns of data selected from said option list.

15. A method of editing a very wide flat file in a data processing system with a system editor operating in an edit mode without requiring a relational database management system (RDMS) which operates on more than a single file at a time, without requiring a RDMS manipulation language, and without requiring the step of loading data into a RDMS constructed table including a central processing unit with a screen manager, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key means and with a display screen capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns at one time, means for storing data in said random access storage device including a very wide flat file having a number of columns greater than said number that can be displayed at one time by said display screen, said method including a program performing the functions comprising retrieving data from said storage device into said processing unit, and

managing the display of said columns of data in said very wide flat file including interactive means at said terminal for selection of sequences of columns of data of said very wide flat file to be juxtaposed on said screen,

calling the screen manager, then finding a list of viewing options for said very wide flat file, then displaying said very wide flat file, and making a decision as to whether to end said program and in the case of a negative determination making a decision as to whether to select a list of viewing options, which in the case of an affirmative decision the program branches to presenting a list of the available views for said very wide flat file being edited,

selecting a view from said list of available views, and

then presenting a window of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being edited in an option list table,

invoking an edit macro to call the data to be viewed with the columns to be displayed and permitting the user to edit said very wide flat file being displayed by activating said function key means with the system editor selecting columns of data from said option list, and

then displaying on said display screen said very wide flat file edited with the sets of columns of data selected from said option list table.

16. A data processing system for editing and viewing of very wide flat files containing more columns of data than a multiple column display screen in a display unit comprising a central processing unit, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key elements and with said display unit with said display screen being capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns of data at one time, said system including a system editor for operating in an edit mode, wherein the system performs the functions as follows:

a) means for storing data including a very wide flat file in said random access storage device having a number of columns of data greater than said number of columns of data that can be displayed at one time by said display screen, said very wide flat file being adapted to be viewed in a number of views which are available to said system,

b) means for retrieving data comprising a very wide flat file from said storage device into said processing unit, and

c) means for displaying a list of available views in a window on said display screen, means for operating said system editor in the edit mode to edit data to provide a view of said very wide flat file which view has been interactively selected for managing the the display of said columns of said very wide flat file on said display screen including interactive user operated editing means employing said system editor in connection with a display on said display screen of said terminal for interactive user selection with with function key elements of a view of desired columns of said very wide flat file to be displayed including selection of sequences of columns of data to be juxtaposed in the display on said screen,

said system working against a said very wide flat file prepared without a relational database management system which operates on more than a single file at a time,

said interactive means comprises means for user actuation of said system to select said columns of data from said very wide flat file through actuation of predetermined function key elements on said terminal,

said system operating without requiring a relational database management system,

the system provides selection of a list of columns of data in said very wide flat file by steps as follows;

1) said very wide flat file including said columns of data which can be viewed in a number of views which are available to said system, displaying on said display screen said window of all of said available views for said very wide flat file being viewed, said views being available to be selected by user interaction initiated with function key elements,

2) responding to the selection of said view of said very wide flat file to be displayed, and

3) displaying on said display screen the selected view of said very wide flat file, said selected view of said very wide flat file being presented in said display on said display screen by said system editor operating in the edit mode,

i) getting a very wide flat file,

ii) opening said very wide flat file,

iii) displaying said very wide flat file,

iv) displaying on said display screen a window of all of the available views for said very wide flat file being viewed,

v) responding to the selection with said function key elements of the view of said very wide flat file to be displayed by said display screen, and

vi) displaying the selected view of said very wide flat file.

17. A data processing system for editing and viewing very wide flat files containing more than the number of columns of data adapted to be displayed on a multiple column display screen of a display unit, said system including a central processing unit, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key elements and said display unit, said display screen of said display unit being capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns of data in a very wide flat file at one time, said system including a system editor for operating in an edit mode, wherein the system performs the functions as follows:

the easy editing of said very wide flat file for convenient viewing of selected columns of said data of said very wide flat through the use of a function key that invokes a window on said display screen which lists multiple possible combinations of views of said very wide flat file which can be selected to present a choice of fields to be viewed simultaneously on said screen, said fields representing a collection of columns which are a subset of the columns of said entire flat file, and

said system presenting selected columns of data of said very wide flat file in a narrow width to facilitate viewing, comprehending, and/or editing the data of said very wide flat file.

18. A method of operating a data processing system comprising a central processing unit, a random access storage device and a terminal with function key elements and with a display unit with a display screen capable of displaying a predetermined maximum number of columns of data of a very wide flat file at one time,

said function key elements comprising interactive means for user actuation of said system to select columns of data through actuation of predetermined function key elements on said terminal,

said system including a system editor for operating in an edit mode to edit a view of a very wide flat file, said system operating upon said very wide flat file without requiring a plural file relational database management system operating on more than one file at a time, wherein the system performs the steps as follows:

a) storing data in at least one very wide flat file in said random access storage device having a number of columns of data greater than said number that can be displayed at one time by said display screen,

said data in said very wide flat file being adapted to be viewed in a number of views which are available to said system

b) retrieving data from a said very wide flat file in said storage device into said central processing unit,

c) displaying in a window on said display screen of said display unit a list of all of said available views for said very wide flat file being viewed including selection of sequences of columns of data to be juxtaposed on the display on said screen from said very wide flat file,

said views being available to be selected by user interaction with said function key elements,

d) selecting a desired view to be displayed on said display screen by user interaction with said function key elements for employing said system editor in connection with a display on said terminal by interactive user selection of a view of desired columns of said very wide flat file to be displayed on said display screen,

e) displaying on said display screen the desired view of said very wide flat file in response to the selection of said view of said very wide flat file by operating said system editor in the edit mode to edit data to provide a view of said very wide flat file which view has been interactively selected by one of said function key elements,

whereby said method manages the display of said columns of data on said display screen with interactive user operated editing means.