Method and system for navigation and data entry in hierarchically-organized database views
First Claim
1. A method for the entry, review and update of data in a hierarchically-organized database comprising:
- (a) creating the hierarchically-organized database, said database having a root node, said root code having at least one child node, and also having further descendant nodes;
(b) displaying the root node and each of the at least one child nodes of the root node as a set of selectable buttons;
(c) navigating the database by selecting one of the selectable buttons at a time;
(d) retaining the display of only the selected button and its parent button to prevent display space from being consumed through the display of one or more unneeded parent buttons, and displaying all of the child nodes associated with the selected node as selectable child buttons;
(e) repetitively selecting said child buttons and erasing completely from the display one or more child buttons that are not selected, but retaining ancestor buttons in the display, thereby enabling navigation back up the hierarchy by selecting one or more previously selected and retained visible ancestor buttons; and
entering new data by selecting a selectable button for the input of new data pertaining to the currently displayed node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for navigating hierarchical database views that supports the efficient entry, review, and updating of data using a navigation display that is clear and efficient—yet compact in terms of the screen area used. At any point in the navigation process, the navigation display consists of buttons corresponding to the nodes that lie along the path to the last node visited (the set of previously made choices) and the children of this node (the set of current choices). Unselected and unselectable choices are culled and do not clutter the display. The user navigates up and down the hierarchy and enters data by selecting these buttons. An important feature of the invention is support for multiple instances of database subhierarchies within this navigation process and display. In addition, multiple nodes can be composed to form a single database entry, thereby reducing the size and complexity of the hierarchical database views. Finally, database views that are directed acyclic graphs are also supported—including both serial and parallel traversal techniques.
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Citations
61 Claims
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1. A method for the entry, review and update of data in a hierarchically-organized database comprising:
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(a) creating the hierarchically-organized database, said database having a root node, said root code having at least one child node, and also having further descendant nodes;
(b) displaying the root node and each of the at least one child nodes of the root node as a set of selectable buttons;
(c) navigating the database by selecting one of the selectable buttons at a time;
(d) retaining the display of only the selected button and its parent button to prevent display space from being consumed through the display of one or more unneeded parent buttons, and displaying all of the child nodes associated with the selected node as selectable child buttons;
(e) repetitively selecting said child buttons and erasing completely from the display one or more child buttons that are not selected, but retaining ancestor buttons in the display, thereby enabling navigation back up the hierarchy by selecting one or more previously selected and retained visible ancestor buttons; and
entering new data by selecting a selectable button for the input of new data pertaining to the currently displayed node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A hierarchically-organized database system comprising:
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(a) means for creating the hierarchically-organized database, said database having a root node, said root node having at least one child node, and also having further descendant nodes;
(b) means for displaying the root node and each of the at least one child nodes of the root node as a set of selectable buttons, each of the selectable buttons displaying a text description thereon;
(c) means for navigating the database by selecting one of the selectable buttons at a time;
(d) means for retaining the display of only the selected button and its parent button to prevent display space from being consumed through the display of one or more unneeded parent buttons, and displaying all of the child nodes associated with the selected node as selectable child buttons;
(e) means for repetitively selecting said child buttons and erasing completely from the display one or more child buttons that are not selected, but retaining ancestor buttons in the display, thereby enabling navigation back up the hierarchy by selecting one or more previously selected and retained visible ancestor buttons; and
(f) means for entering new data by selecting a selectable button for the input of new data pertaining to the currently displayed node. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method for navigating a hierarchically-organized database having a root node comprising:
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(a) displaying the root node;
(b) displaying all child nodes of the root node as selectable buttons;
(c) selecting a first one of the child nodes of the root node to start navigating the data base, thus prompting the display of the root node, the first one of the child nodes of the root node, and all child nodes of the first one of the child nodes as selectable buttons;
(d) moving down the database by selecting one of the children buttons of the selected button, completely erasing from display all other unselected children buttons of the selected buttons, but retaining the display of selected ancestor buttons; and
(e) navigating the database by selecting selectable buttons representing nodes of the database until leaf buttons are displayed. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method for navigating a hierarchically-organized database having a root node comprising:
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(a) displaying a representation of the database as a set of buttons, wherein each button represents a node on the database;
(b) selecting a button, thus erasing completely from display the children buttons of the parent button, and displaying the children button of the selected button;
(c) moving down the database by selecting one of the children buttons of the selected button, erasing completely from display all other unselected children buttons of the selected buttons, and displaying all the children buttons of the selected child buttons and all the selected ancestor buttons; and
(d) moving up the database by selecting a previously selected and displayed ancestor button, displaying all the children buttons of the ancestor button, and erasing from display all buttons that lie below the children buttons of the ancestor button. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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Specification