Method and system for displaying related information from a database

• US 6,101,493 A
• Filed: 03/15/1999
• Issued: 08/08/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/1996
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Laird, Barbara H., Hallbeck, Timothy E., Marshall, Dennis Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Amsbury, Wayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pardo, Thuy
• Application Number:
  US09/268,859
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707/3, 707/201, 707/526, 707/529, 707/509, 707/6, 707/8, 707/103, 707/530, 345/507, 345/340, 345/333, 345/509, 345/419, 345/329, 364/282.1, 503/201
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/944 Business related
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99938 Concurrency, e.g. lock management in shared database

Abstract

A technique for displaying information from related tables of a database in different display windows on a display screen associated with a computer system is disclosed. The different display windows are interlinked such that a selection of one or more entries in one of the display windows causes the other of the display windows to distinguishably and orderly display those entries that are related to the selection. A graphical user interface (GUI) in which a main screen is produced having the interlinked display windows is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer system, comprising:

a database containing tables of data;

a display device, said display device having a plurality of display areas, each of the display areas displays data items from an associated table within said database; and

a processor unit, said processor unit operates to access said database to retrieve the data items from the corresponding associated tables and then display the retrieved data items in the display areas corresponding thereto, and to detect a selection of a displayed data item within a selected one of the display areas by a user and thereafter to automatically modify the data items being displayed in the other of the display areas in accordance with the selected data item by accessing said database to retrieve the data items in two groups, those data items that are related to the selected data item and those data items that are unrelated to the selected data item, by ordering the data items within each of the groups separately, and by respectively displaying the ordered data items for each of the groups in the other of the display areas so that the group of the data items in the other of the display areas that is related to the selected data item is displayed in a visually distinct manner as compared to the group of the data items in the other of the display areas that is unrelated to the selected data item.

2. A computer system as recited in claim 1, wherein those entries displayed in the other of the display areas that are related to the selected data item are displayed in a graphically distinctive manner from those entries being displayed that are unrelated to the selected data item.

3. A computer system, comprising:

a database containing tables of data;

a display device, said display device having a plurality of display areas, each of the display areas displays data items from an associated table within said database; and

a processor unit, said processor unit operates to access said database to retrieve the data items from the corresponding associated tables and then display the retrieved data items in the display areas corresponding thereto, and to detect a selection of a displayed data item within a selected one of the display areas by a user and thereafter to automatically modify the data items being displayed in the other of the display areas in accordance with the selected data item by obtaining a key from the database in accordance with the selected data item, notifying the other of the display areas of the key, and updating the data items in the other of the display areas so as to visually distinguish those of the data items that are associated with the key from those data items that are not associated with the key.

4. A graphical user interface for a display screen of a computer, said graphical user interface comprising:

a first display area having a first label and a first data window, the first data window displays a first type of data in multiple rows and columns, and the first label identifies the first type of data; and

a second display area having a second label and a second data window, the second data window displays a second type of data in multiple rows and columns, and the second label identifies the second type of data,

wherein one of a first selection of at least one of the rows in the first data window and a second selection of at least one of the rows in the second data window can be made,

wherein the first selection of at least one of the rows in the first data window automatically causes the rows in the second data window that are associated with the first selection to be visually distinguished from other of the rows, and

wherein the second selection of at least one of the rows in the second data window automatically causes the rows in the first data window that are associated with the second selection to be visually distinguished from other of the rows.

5. A graphical user interface as recited in claim 4,

wherein said graphical user interface further comprises:

a third display area having a third label and a third data window, the third data window displays a third type of data in multiple rows and columns, and the third label identifies the third type of data,

wherein one of the first selection of at least one of the rows in the first data window, the second selection of at least one of the rows in the second data window and a third selection of at least one of the rows in the third data window can be made,

wherein the first selection of the at least one of the rows in the first data window automatically causes the rows in the second and third data windows that are associated with the first selection to be visually distinguished from other of the rows,

wherein the second selection of at least one of the rows in the second data window automatically causes the rows in the first and third data windows that are associated with the second selection to be visually distinguished from other of the rows, and

wherein the third selection of at least one of the rows in the third data window automatically causes the rows in the first and second data windows that are associated with the third selection to be visually distinguished from other of the rows.

6. A graphical user interface as recited in claim 4, wherein said graphical user interface is associated with a business application program for a business,

wherein the first label and the first data window are associated with customers of the business, and the second label and the second data window are associated with products or services of the business, and the third label and the third data window are associated with invoices of the business.

7. A method for displaying data on a display device of a computer system, the data being obtained from a database associated with the computer system, said method comprising:

providing the display device with a plurality of display areas, each of the display areas displays a list of data records from an associated table within the database; and

interlinking the display areas via the database such that a selection of certain of the displayed data records from the list in one of the display areas causes one or more data records displayed in at least one of the other display areas that are associated with the selection to be identified in a visually distinct manner, said interlinking including the operations of accessing the database to retrieve data records in two groups, those data records that correspond to the election and those data records that do not, ordering the data records within each of the groups separately, and respectively displaying the ordered data records for each of the groups in at least one of the other display areas,

wherein said interlinking of the display areas is achieved in accordance with at least the relationship between the associated tables of the database.

8. A method for displaying data on a display device of a computer system, the data being obtained from tables in a database associated with the computer system, the display device having a plurality of display areas, said method comprising the operations of:

(a) displaying entries from the database in the display areas;

(b) determining whether a selection of one or more entries being displayed in a particular one of the display areas has occurred;

(c) obtaining a key from the database in accordance with the selection;

(d) notifying the other of the display areas of the key; and

(e) updating the entries in the other of the display areas so as to visually distinguish those of the entries that are associated with the key with those entries that are not associated with the key.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein said updating (e) comprises:

(e1) accessing the database in accordance with the key to obtain the retrieved entries in the other of the display areas; and

(e2) displaying the retrieved entries in the other of the display areas, with those of the entries that are associated with the key being distinguishably displayed from those entries that are not associated with the key.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, wherein each of the display areas has an associated table in the database and the entries being displayed in each of the display areas are obtained from the associated table, and

wherein the key is obtained from the table in the database that is associated with the particular one of the display areas where the selection occurred.

11. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein each of the display areas has an associated table in the database, and

wherein the key is obtained from the table in the database that is associated with the particular one of the display areas where the selection occurred.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein said updating (e) comprises, for each of the other of the display areas, the operations of:

(e1) retrieving a first set of entries from the associated table in the database that is associated with the key;

(e2) retrieving a second set of entries from the associated table in the database that are not associated with the key; and

(e3) displaying the first and second sets of entries in the corresponding display area with the first set of entries being distinguishably displayed from the second set of entries.

13. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein said updating (e) comprises, for each of the other of the display areas, the operations of:

(e1) retrieving a first set of entries from the associated table in the database that is associated with the key;

(e2) sorting the first set of entries in accordance with a predetermined criteria;

(e3) retrieving a second set of entries from the associated table in the database that are not associated with the key;

(e4) sorting the second set of entries in accordance with a predetermined criteria; and

(e5) displaying the sorted first set of entries followed by the sorted second set of entries in the corresponding display area with the sorted first set of entries being distinguishably displayed from the sorted second set of entries.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein said displaying (e5) distinguishably displays the sorted first set of entries from the sorted second set of entries by placing a graphical indicator adjacent to each of the sorted first set of entries.

15. A computer readable media containing program instructions for displaying data on a display device of a computer system, the data being obtained from tables in a database associated with the computer system, the display device having a plurality of display areas, said computer readable media comprising:

first computer readable code devices for determining whether a selection of one or more entries being displayed in a particular one of the display areas has occurred;

second computer readable code devices for obtaining a key from the database in accordance with the selection;

third computer readable code devices for notifying the other of the display areas of the key; and

fourth computer readable code devices for updating the entries in the other of the display areas so as to visually distinguish those of the entries that are associated with the key from those entries that are not associated with the key.

16. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein said fourth computer readable code devices comprise:

computer readable code devices for accessing the database in accordance with the key to obtain the retrieved entries in the other of the display areas; and

computer readable code devices for displaying the retrieved entries in the other of the display areas, with those of the entries that are associated with the key being distinguishably displayed from those entries that are not associated with the key.

17. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 16, wherein each of the display areas has an associated table in the database, and the key is obtained from the table in the database that is associated with the particular one of the display areas where the selection occurred.

18. A computer readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein said fourth computer program code comprises:

computer program code for identifying at least one of those of the entries that are associated with the key and those of the entries that are not associated with the key; and

computer program code for distinguishably displaying those of the entries associated with the key in the corresponding display area from those of the entries not associated with the key.

19. A computer readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein said fourth computer program code further comprises:

computer program code for sorting those of the entries associated with the key with respect to the corresponding display area.

20. A computer readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein said fourth computer program code further comprises:

computer program code for determining a select count indicating a number of those of the entries in the corresponding display area associated with the key; and

computer program code for displaying the select count on the display device proximate to the corresponding display area.

21. A computer readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein said fourth computer program code further comprises:

computer program code for sorting those of the entries associated with the key with respect to the corresponding display area.

22. A computer readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein said fourth computer program code further comprises:

computer program code for determining a select count indicating a number of those of the entries in the corresponding display area associated with the key; and

computer program code for determining a total count indicating a total number of those of the entries in the corresponding display area; and

computer program code for displaying the select count and the total count on the display device proximate to the corresponding display area.