Method and apparatus for displaying and tree scrolling a hierarchical data structure

• US 6,380,947 B1
• Filed: 12/16/1999
• Issued: 04/30/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Stead, Larry
• Primary Examiner(s): Brier, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): HAVAN, THU THAO
• Application Number:
  US09/465,424
• Time in Patent Office: 866 Days
• Field of Search: 345/643, 345/645, 345/440, 345/440.2, 345/713, 345/797, 345/798, 345/784, 345/785, 345/786, 345/787, 345/788, 345/783, 345/841, 345/854, 345/853, 345/855, 707/103, 707/6, 707/3, 707/4, 707/100, 707/514, 707/513, 707/515
• US Class Current: 345/645
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to display and scroll hierarchical data. A plurality of parent nodes can be displayed within a first display area, with each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes having at least one child node. A computer can determine that at most one child node for each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes is to be displayed. A child node scrolling instruction can be received. A child node display percentile can be determined based at least in part on the child node scrolling instruction. One child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes can be selected based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile. Each selected one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes can be displayed in a second display area, with each displayed child node being displayed as associated with the displayed parent node of the displayed child node.

Claims

1. A method for displaying hierarchical data, the method comprising:

displaying a plurality of parent nodes within a first display area, each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes having at least one child node;

determining that at most one child node for each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes is to be displayed;

receiving a child node scrolling instruction;

determining a child node display percentile based at least in part on the child node scrolling instruction;

selecting one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile; and

displaying each selected one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes in a second display area, each displayed child node being displayed as associated with the displayed parent node of the displayed child node.

2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

displaying a child node descriptor for each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes, each child node descriptor indicating one of at least two conditions, the at least two conditions including

a first condition that a displayed child node is the only child node of the displayed parent node, and

a second condition that a displayed child node is one of a plurality of child nodes of the displayed parent node.

3. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

displaying a child node descriptor for each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes, each child node descriptor including a first descriptor associated with the displayed child node and a second descriptor corresponding to a total quantity of child nodes of the displayed parent node of the displayed child node.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile includes proportionally selecting one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile includes arithmetically selecting one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each displayed child node has at least one grandchild node.

7. The method of claim 6, the method further comprising:

determining that at most one grandchild node for each displayed child node is to be displayed;

receiving a grandchild node scrolling instruction;

determining a grandchild node display percentile based at least in part on the received grandchild node scrolling instruction;

selecting one grandchild node of each displayed child node based at least in part on the determined grandchild node display percentile; and

displaying each selected one grandchild node of each displayed child node in a third display area, each displayed grandchild node being displayed as associated with the displayed child node to which the displayed grandchild node is related.

8. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving an instruction to display each displayable child node of each displayed parent node; and

displaying each displayable child node of each displayed parent node.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

displaying a per-child node descriptor for each displayed child node, each per-child node descriptor indicating one of at least two per-child conditions, the at least two per-child conditions including

a first per-child condition that all child nodes of the displayed parent node are displayed, and

a second per-child condition that fewer than all child nodes of the displayed parent node are displayed.

10. The method of claim 7, the method further comprising:

receiving an instruction to display each displayable child node of each displayed parent node;

displaying each displayable child node of each displayed parent node;

receiving an instruction to display each displayable grandchild node of each displayed child node; and

displaying each displayable grandchild node of each displayed child node.

11. A method for displaying hierarchical data, the method comprising:

displaying a root node within a first display area;

determining that at most one non-terminal node of the root node is to be displayed in a second display area;

receiving a non-terminal node scrolling instruction;

determining a non-terminal node display percentile based at least in part on the received non-terminal node scrolling instruction;

selecting one non-terminal node of the root node based at least in part on the determined non-terminal node display percentile;

displaying the selected one non-terminal node of the root node;

determining that at most one terminal node of the non-terminal node is to be displayed in a third display area;

receiving a terminal node scrolling instruction;

determining a terminal node display percentile based at least in part on the received terminal node scrolling instruction;

selecting one terminal node of the non-terminal node based at least in part on the determined terminal node display percentile; and

displaying the selected one terminal node of the non-terminal node.

12. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising:

receiving an instruction to display each displayable non-terminal node of the displayed root node; and

displaying each displayable non-terminal node of each displayed root node.

13. The method of claim 12, the method further comprising:

receiving an instruction to display each displayable terminal node of each displayed non-terminal node; and

displaying each displayable terminal node of each displayed non-terminal node.

14. An apparatus to display a hierarchical data structure, the apparatus comprising:

a. a processor; and

b. a memory, coupled to said processor, storing a plurality of instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to

display a plurality of parent nodes within a first display area, each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes having at least one child node;

determine that at most one child node for each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes is to be displayed;

receive a child node scrolling instruction;

determine a child node display percentile based at least in part on the child node scrolling instruction;

select one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile; and

display each selected one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes in a second display area, each displayed child node being displayed as associated with the displayed parent node of the displayed child node.

15. A computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to display a hierarchical data structure, the plurality of instructions comprising instructions to:

display a plurality of parent nodes within a first display area, each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes having at least one child node;

determine that at most one child node for each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes is to be displayed;

receive a child node scrolling instruction;

determine a child node display percentile based at least in part on the child node scrolling instruction;

select one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes based at least in part on the determined child node display percentile; and

display each selected one child node of each displayed parent node of the plurality of parent nodes in a second display area, each displayed child node being displayed as associated with the displayed parent node of the displayed child node.