Computer system and method for abstracting and accessing a chronologically-arranged collection of information

• US 6,523,048 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2001
• Issued: 02/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: DeStefano, George Francis
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUYNH, CONG LAC T
• Application Number:
  US09/759,574
• Publication Number:
  US 20010003186A1
• Time in Patent Office: 767 Days
• Field of Search: 707/526, 707/514, 707/102, 345/853, 345/854
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90348 by searching ordered data, e.g. alpha-numerically ordered data

Abstract

A computer system and method concurrently present multiple development threads represented by a collection of chronologically-arranged information. An abstraction stack is used to access a body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction and including a plurality of information elements associated with the plurality of levels of abstraction and organized generally chronologically in the body of knowledge. The abstraction stack concurrently displays first and second representations of a common portion of the body of knowledge, with the first and second representations respectively displaying first and second information elements respectively associated with first and second levels of abstraction. The first and second levels of abstraction are respectively associated with separate development threads such that such threads are concurrently presented to a user. The development threads may be defined in a number of manners, including but not limited to different points of view, perspectives, writing styles, levels of comprehension and levels of detail. Moreover, further stratification of a body of knowledge may be performed to define additional abstraction schemes for the body of knowledge such that multiple representations of each development thread may be concurrently presented. A computer system and method may also stratify information using multiple abstraction schemes such that various information elements from a collection of information may be concurrently displayed in such a manner that the relationship of the information elements in terms of the multiple abstraction schemes may be presented to a user.

Claims

1. A computer system, comprising:

(a) a computer display;

(b) a memory configured to store at least a portion of a body of knowledge representing a collection of information about a predetermined topic, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction including at least first and second levels of abstraction that are respectively associated with first and second development threads, the body of knowledge including a plurality of chronologically-arranged information elements, at least a portion of which associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction; and

(c) a processor, coupled to the computer display and memory, the processor configured to access the body of knowledge in the memory and to concurrently display on the computer display first and second representations of a common portion of the body of knowledge, the first and second representations respectively displaying first and second information elements respectively associated with the first and second levels of abstraction such that the first and second development threads are concurrently presented to the user, wherein the processor is further configured to respectively display the first and second information elements in first and second lenses, the first and second lenses being scrollable in response to user input to scroll chronologically through the body of knowledge, and wherein the processor is configured to coordinate the scrolling of the first and second lenses to maintain both lenses displaying representations of common portions of the body of knowledge.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first and second lenses are visually linked with a connector element including a plurality of line segments extending between corresponding corners of each of the first and second lenses.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein each lens has associated therewith a filter criteria, each filter criteria filtering out information elements associated with at least one predetermined level of abstraction.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the filter criteria of at least one lens applies a focus effect to information elements associated with at least one predetermined level of abstraction.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first and second information elements are associated with a common concept in the body of knowledge, and wherein the processor is configured to visually link the first and second information elements.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to arrange the first and second representations generally arranged along an axis in a three dimensional workspace to represent a hierarchical relationship between the first and second representations.

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first and second levels of abstraction define a first abstraction scheme, wherein the body of knowledge is further stratified according to a second abstraction scheme including first and second levels of abstraction, wherein the first and second representations are respectively associated with the first level of abstraction in the second abstraction scheme, and wherein the processor is further configured to concurrently display the first and second representations of the common portion of the body of knowledge at a common depth along an axis in a three dimensional workspace, and to concurrently display a third representation of the common portion of the body of knowledge at a second depth along the axis, the third representation associated with the second level of abstraction in the second abstraction scheme, and wherein the third representation is further associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction in the first abstraction scheme.

8. A computer-implemented method of presenting a chronologically-arranged collection of information for access thereto by a user, the method comprising:

(a) displaying in a first lens on a computer display a first representation of a portion of a body of knowledge stored in a computer, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction including at least first and second levels of abstraction that are respectively associated with first and second development threads, the body of knowledge including a plurality of chronologically-arranged information elements, at least a portion of which associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction, the first representation displaying a first information element associated with at least the first level of abstraction;

(b) concurrently with displaying the first representation, displaying a second representation of the portion of the body of knowledge in a second lens on the computer display, the second representation displaying a second information element associated with at least the second level of abstraction such that the first and second development threads are concurrently presented to the user, wherein the first and second lenses are scrollable in response to user input to scroll chronologically through the body of knowledge; and

(c) coordinating the scrolling of the first and second lenses to maintain both lenses displaying representations of common portions of the body of knowledge.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising arranging the first and second representations generally along an axis in a three dimensional workspace to represent a hierarchical relationship between the first and second representations.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first and second levels of abstraction define a first abstraction scheme, wherein the body of knowledge is further stratified according to a second abstraction scheme including first and second levels of abstraction, wherein the first and second representations are respectively associated with the first level of abstraction in the second abstraction scheme, the method further comprising:

(a) displaying the first and second representations of the portion of the body of knowledge at a common depth along an axis in a three dimensional workspace; and

(b) concurrently displaying a third representation of the portion of the body of knowledge at a second depth along the axis, the third representation associated with the second level of abstraction in the second abstraction scheme, and associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction in the first abstraction scheme.

11. A program product, comprising:

(a) a program configured to perform a method of presenting a chronologically-arranged collection of information for access thereto by a user, the program including;

(1) a body of knowledge representing a collection of information about a predetermined topic, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction including at least first and second levels of abstraction that are respectively associated with first and second development threads, the body of knowledge including a plurality of chronologically-arranged information elements, at least a portion of which associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction; and

(2) an abstraction stack configured to access the body of knowledge and to concurrently display first and second representations of a common portion of the body of knowledge in first and second lenses, respectively, wherein the first and second lenses are scrollable in response to user input to scroll chronologically through the body of knowledge, and the first and second representations respectively displaying first and second information elements respectively associated with the first and second levels of abstraction such that the first and second development threads are concurrently presented to the user, and wherein the program is configured to coordinate the scrolling of the first and second lenses to maintain both lenses displaying representations of common portions of the body of knowledge; and

(b) a signal bearing media bearing the program.

12. A computer system, comprising:

(a) a computer display;

(b) a memory configured to store at least a portion of a body of knowledge representing a collection of information about a predetermined topic, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction including at least first and second levels of abstraction that are respectively associated with first and second development threads, the body of knowledge including a plurality of chronologically-arranged information elements, at least a portion of which associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction, the body of knowledge directed to a literary work selected from the group consisting of a novel, a historical work, a screen play, a script, a play, a short story, a bible story, a biography, a fictional work, a non-fictional work, and a news report; and

(c) a processor, coupled to the computer display and memory, the processor configured to access the body of knowledge in the memory and to concurrently display on the computer display first and second representations of a common portion of the body of knowledge, the first and second representations respectively displaying first and second information elements respectively associated with the first and second levels of abstraction such that the first and second development threads are concurrently presented to the user.

13. The computer system of claim 12, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of levels of abstraction include a first-person level of abstraction and a third-person level of abstraction.

14. The computer system of claim 12, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of levels of abstraction are stratified based upon different event sequences.

15. The computer system of claim 12, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of levels of abstraction are stratified based upon points of view of different characters in the literary work.

16. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the body of knowledge is directed to a bible story, and wherein the plurality of levels of abstraction include levels of abstraction associated with different gospels.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the body of knowledge is further stratified into a second plurality of levels of abstraction, the second plurality of levels of abstraction stratified based upon different bible versions.

18. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the body of knowledge is further stratified into a second plurality of levels of abstraction, the second plurality of levels of abstraction stratified based upon different bible versions.

19. A computer-implemented method of presenting a chronologically-arranged collection of information for access thereto by a user, the method comprising:

(a) displaying on a computer display a first representation of a portion of a body of knowledge stored in a computer, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction including at least first and second levels of abstraction that are respectively associated with first and second development threads, the body of knowledge including a plurality of chronologically-arranged information elements, at least a portion of which associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction, the first representation displaying a first information element associated with at least the first level of abstraction, and the body of knowledge directed to a literary work selected from the group consisting of a novel, a historical work, a screen play, a script, a play, a short story, a bible story, a biography, a fictional work, a non-fictional work, and a news report; and

(b) concurrently with displaying the first representation, displaying a second representation of the portion of the body of knowledge, the second representation displaying a second information element associated with at least the second level of abstraction such that the first and second development threads are concurrently presented to the user.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of levels of abstraction include a first-person level of abstraction and a third-person level of abstraction.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of levels of abstraction are stratified based upon at least one of different event sequences and points of view of different characters in the literary work.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the body of knowledge is directed to a bible story, wherein the plurality of levels of abstraction include levels of abstraction associated with different gospels.

23. A program product, comprising:

(a) a program configured to perform a method of presenting a chronologically-arranged collection of information for access thereto by a user, the program including;

(1) a body of knowledge representing a collection of information about a predetermined topic, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction including at least first and second levels of abstraction that are respectively associated with first and second development threads, the body of knowledge including a plurality of chronologically-arranged information elements, at least a portion of which associated with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction, and the body of knowledge directed to a literary work selected from the group consisting of a novel, a historical work, a screen play, a script, a play, a short story, a bible story, a biography, a fictional work, a non-fictional work, and a news report; and

(2) an abstraction stack configured to access the body of knowledge and to concurrently display first and second representations of a common portion of the body of knowledge, the first and second representations respectively displaying first and second information elements respectively associated with the first and second levels of abstraction such that the first and second development threads are concurrently presented to the user; and

(b) a signal bearing media bearing the program.