System and method of presenting channelized data

• US 6,453,339 B1
• Filed: 01/20/1999
• Issued: 09/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Schultz, Thomas W., Bradley, Mark C., Peterson, Thomas Y., Halmrast, Ted C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Dung C.
• Application Number:
  US09/233,870
• Time in Patent Office: 1,336 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 709/224, 709/229, 709/231, 707/10, 707/102, 707/103, 707/104, 707/200, 707/201, 707/203
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

A system and method for presenting data from a plurality of sources to a user. The system includes a plurality of information sources, a user interface, content storage and a server connected to the user interface and the content storage. The user interface selects data from one or more of the plurality of information sources to be identified as published content and issues content requests to access data identified as published content. The content storage stores published content and the server manages the content requests received from the user interface. The server includes a repository and a content directory, wherein the repository manages a virtual directory structure associated with published content, wherein the content directory maintains a content directory structure pointing to all published content stored in the content storage and wherein the content directory structure is referenced by the virtual directory structure in the repository.

Claims

1. A method of channelizing data within a system having a user interface and a server, comprising:

identifying, at the user interface, data to be published as published content;

sending a request to the server identifying the data to the server;

generating, at the server, an object key to the data to be published;

storing the object key into a content directory as a function of values stored in a virtual directory;

associating the object key with a channel; and

displaying the channel on the user interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein storing the object key includes updating an index to reflect storage of the object key, wherein updating an index includes placing a search meta file associated with the published content in the index.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein updating an index further includes broadcasting the search meta file to other available servers.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein associating the object key with a channel includes:

creating a messenger, wherein a messenger is an automated process which alerts a user when an event occurs;

generating a messenger object key for the messenger;

storing the messenger object key to a repository; and

associating the messenger with the published content; and

wherein the method further includes scheduling the messenger to execute at a predetermined time and displaying a message regarding execution of the messenger on the user interface.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein displaying a message includes sending an e-mail message to the user interface.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein displaying a message includes displaying a headline associated with the published content on the user interface.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein displaying a headline includes displaying a navigation area template.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the navigation area template is created by an administrator and is selected by the user.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying data to be published as published content includes providing an information source, generating a report within the information source and storing the report in a location and wherein sending a request to the server identifying the data to the server includes identifying the location where the report was stored.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein associating the object key with a channel includes:

creating a messenger, wherein a messenger is an automated process which alerts a user when an event occurs;

generating a messenger object key for the messenger;

storing the messenger object key to a repository; and

associating the messenger with the published content; and

wherein the method further includes scheduling the messenger to execute at a predetermined time, displaying a message regarding execution of the messenger on the user interface and accessing the report via the messenger.

11. A system for presenting data from a plurality of sources to a user, comprising:

a plurality of information sources;

a user interface, wherein the user interface selects data from one or more of the plurality of information sources to be identified as published content and issues content requests to access data identified as published content;

content storage, wherein the content storage stores published content; and

a server connected to the user interface and the content storage, wherein the server manages the content requests received from the user interface, wherein the server includes a repository and a content directory, wherein the repository manages a virtual directory structure associated with published content and wherein the content directory maintains a content directory structure pointing to all published content stored in the content storage;

wherein the content directory structure is referenced by the virtual directory structure in the repository.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the repository manages the virtual directory structure in terms of folders, messenger and channels;

wherein folders contain pointers to published content;

wherein messengers are automated processes which alert a user when an event occurs; and

wherein channels are a logical organization of information grouped by a particular subject.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the server includes a scheduler which monitors and schedules processing of messengers.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the server manages content requests as a multi-threaded Java servlet.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein the repository includes a security mechanism for restricting access, based on permissions, by a user to content stored in the content server.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the repository is stored within a relational database.

17. The system according to claim 11, wherein content requested by the user is displayed as newspages and wherein the server includes a scheduler for scheduling generation of the newspages.

18. The system according to claim 11, wherein the server includes a search engine and wherein the user interface includes means for accessing content via the search engine.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the content storage includes storage for a pointer file, wherein the pointer file points at data files stored on remote data storage devices.

20. A Web portal into business intelligence, comprising:

a plurality of business information sources, including a data warehouse and an on-line transaction processing system;

a user interface, wherein the user interface includes a Web browser, means for publishing data from the data warehouse and from the on-line transaction processing system as published content, means for identifying the data published and means for issuing a content request to access a document stored as published content;

content storage, wherein the content storage stores the published content; and

a server connected to the user interface and the content storage, wherein the server manages the content request received from the user interface, wherein the server includes a repository and a content directory, wherein the repository contains a virtual directory structure associated with the published content and wherein the content directory contains a content directory structure pointing to all published content stored in the content storage;

wherein the server retrieves the document as a function of the content request by indirectly addressing the content directory structure through the virtual directory structure stored in the repository; and

wherein the server transforms the retrieved document into a document which can be displayed on the Web browser and transfers the transformed document to the user interface.

21. The portal according to claim 20, wherein the means for identifying the data published includes means for displaying, on the user interface, a headline associated with the published content.

22. The portal according to claim 21, wherein the means for issuing a content request includes means for clicking on the headline.

23. The portal according to claim 20, wherein the data warehouse includes an agent, wherein the agent executes at a first predefined time to generate a report, and wherein the server includes a messenger, wherein the messenger is associated with the report and wherein the messenger executes at a second predefined time to remind a user to review the report.