Process and system for providing a table view of a form layout for a database

• US 6,613,099 B2
• Filed: 08/20/1999
• Issued: 09/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Crim, Christopher L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H.
• Application Number:
  US09/378,599
• Publication Number:
  US 20020152189A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,474 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 345/418, 345/640, 715/500, 715/503, 715/504-507, 715/508-510, 715/522-523, 715/528-529, 715/537-542
• US Class Current: 715/210
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and apparatus for displaying data associated with a plurality of records in a database, including obtaining a first layout including a body defining a plurality of fields having a specified order and associated attributes, each of the associated attributes having a corresponding attribute value. A second layout is created from the first layout such that the second layout includes selected ones of the plurality of fields, the second layout being adapted for displaying a plurality of records such that values associated with the same field of the plurality of records are displayed adjacent to one another. Attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of fields are then copied from the first layout to the second layout. The second layout is then displayed.

Claims

1. A method of creating a report format suitable for displaying data associated with one or more of a plurality of database records, the method comprising:

obtaining a first layout, the first layout including a plurality of database fields having associated formatting information, the first layout being a first report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records;

creating a second layout from the first layout such that the second layout includes one or more of the plurality of database fields, the second layout being a report format adapted for displaying data associated with the plurality of database records such that data values associated with the same database field are displayed adjacent to one another; and

associating at least a portion of the formatting information of the first layout with the one or more of the plurality of database fields in the second layout such that the second layout includes the at least a portion of the formatting information from the first layout, the second layout being a second report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

providing the second layout using the formatting information associated with the one or more of the plurality of database fields.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first layout is adapted for at least one of obtaining and displaying data for a single one of the plurality of database records.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the formatting information identifies the order of the plurality of database fields.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of database records are stored in one or more databases.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first layout is a form layout and the second layout is a table layout.

7. A method of creating a report format suitable for displaying data associated with one or more of a plurality of database records, the method comprising:

obtaining a first layout, the first layout including a body defining a plurality of database fields having a specified order and associated attributes, each of the associated attributes having a corresponding attribute value, the first layout being a first report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records;

creating a second layout from the first layout such that the second layout includes selected ones of the plurality of database fields, the second layout being a report format adapted for displaying a plurality of database records such that data values associated with the same database field of the plurality of database records are displayed adjacent to one another; and

copying attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the first layout to the second layout such that the second layout includes the attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the first layout, the second layout being a second report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, the first layout being adapted for displaying a plurality of records such that values associated with the same database field of the plurality of database records are not displayed adjacent to one another.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the first layout is a form layout and the second layout is a table layout.

10. A method of displaying data associated with one or more of a plurality of database records, the method comprising:

obtaining a first layout, the first layout including a body defining a plurality of fields having a specified order and associated attributes, each of the associated attributes having a corresponding attribute value, the first layout being adapted for displaying one or more records such that database fields associated with a single one of the database records are displayed in multiple rows or columns, the first layout being a first report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records;

creating a second layout from the first layout such that the second layout includes selected ones of the plurality of fields, the second layout being adapted for displaying a plurality of database records such that values associated with the same database field of the plurality of database records are displayed in a single row or column;

copying attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the first layout to the second layout such that the second layout includes the attribute values corresponding to the at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the first layout, the second layout being a second report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records; and

displaying data associated with the plurality of database records in the second layout.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein displaying the second layout comprises printing the second layout.

12. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein said creating of the second layout comprises:

creating one or more columns in the second layout; and

identifying each of the selected ones of the plurality of database fields with one of the columns in the second layout.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein said creating of the second layout further comprises creating a column header for each one of the columns in the second layout, each column header identifying one of the selected ones of the plurality of database fields.

14. A computer readable medium including computer code for providing a table layout suitable for use in displaying data associated with one or more of a plurality of database records, comprising:

computer code for displaying a form layout, the form layout including a body defining a plurality of database fields having a specified order and associated attributes, each of the associated attributes having a corresponding attribute value, the form layout being a first report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records;

computer code for creating a table layout from the form layout such that the table layout includes the plurality of database fields, the table layout being adapted for displaying a plurality of database records such that values associated with the same database field of the plurality of records are displayed adjacent to one another; and

computer code for transferring attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the form layout to the table layout such that the table layout includes the attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the form layout, the table layout being a second report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records.

15. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

computer code for assigning default attribute values to selected ones of the attributes in the table layout.

16. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

computer code for making modifications to selected ones of the plurality of database fields of the form layout; and

computer code for modifying the table layout to include the modifications made to the form layout.

17. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

computer code for making modifications to selected ones of the attribute values of the form layout; and

computer code for modifying the table layout to include the modifications made to the form layout.

18. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

computer code for deleting one of the plurality of database fields from the form layout;

computer code for deleting the one of the plurality of database fields from the table layout; and

computer code for copying attribute values from the form layout to the table layout for each of the plurality of database fields that have not been deleted.

19. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

computer code for reordering selected ones of the plurality of database fields in the table layout such that the order of the plurality of the database fields in the form layout remains unchanged.

20. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 14, wherein said computer code for creating the table layout comprises:

computer code for identifying selected ones of the plurality of database fields in the form layout that have an associated order;

computer code for determining whether one or more of the plurality of database fields in the table layout have been reordered; and

computer code for copying the selected ones of the plurality of database fields from the form layout to the table layout when it is determined that the database fields in the table layout have not been reordered.

21. A method of providing a first format suitable for use in displaying data associated with one or more of a plurality of records, the first format being obtained at least in part from a second format, the method comprising:

obtaining the second format, the second format including a body defining a plurality of database fields having a specified order and associated attributes, each of the associated attributes having a corresponding attribute value;

providing the first format such that the first format includes the plurality of database fields, the first format being a first report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records; and

copying attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the second format to the first format such that the first format includes the attribute values corresponding to at least some of the attributes associated with the plurality of database fields from the second format, the second format being a second report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, further comprising displaying data associated with the plurality of database records in the first format.

23. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein database fields of the second format are defined by rows of the second format and database fields of the first format are defined by columns of the first format.

24. The method as recited in claim 23, further comprising at least one of reordering and resizing one or more of the columns.

25. The method as recited in claim 23, further including sorting data associated with one of the columns.

26. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the first format is a table format adapted for displaying a plurality of records such that values associated with the same database field of the plurality of database records are displayed adjacent to one another.

27. The method as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

associating attribute values with selected attributes of the plurality of database fields of the first format such that the attribute values associated with the selected attributes override attribute values of the second format.

28. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the attributes and associated attribute values together identify at least one of color, degree of rotation, and font size.

29. The method as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

modifying selected ones of the plurality of database fields of the second format; and

modifying the first format to incorporate the modifications to the selected ones of the plurality of database fields of the second format.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein modifying selected ones of the plurality of database fields of the second format includes deleting the selected ones of the plurality of database fields of the second format.

31. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the first format has a first modification count and the second format has a second modification count, the method further comprising:

determining whether the first modification count and the second modification count are equal; and

when it is determined that the first modification count and the second modification count are not equal, modifying the first format to incorporate the modifications to the selected ones of the plurality of fields of the second format and updating the first modification count.

32. The method as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

modifying attribute values associated with attributes corresponding to selected ones of the plurality of database fields of the second format; and

modifying the first format to incorporate the modifications to the attribute values associated with the selected ones of the plurality of database fields.

33. The method as recited in claim 32, wherein the first format has a first modification count and the second format has a second modification count, the method further comprising:

determining whether the first modification count and the second modification count are equal; and

when it is determined that the first modification count and the second modification count are not equal, modifying the first format to incorporate the modifications to the attribute values associated with the selected ones of the plurality of database fields and updating the first modification count.

34. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the second format further includes at least one of a header and a footer, the method further comprising:

copying at least one of the header and the footer from the second format to the first format.

35. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein providing the first format comprises:

adding a first set of the plurality of fields to the first format while maintaining the specified order, each one of the first set of the plurality of fields having a position associated with the specified order; and

adding a second set of the plurality of fields to the first format, wherein the second set of the plurality of fields is unrelated to the specified order.

36. The method as recited in claim 35, wherein adding the first set and the second set of the plurality of fields comprises using a set of default attributes.

37. The method as recited in claim 35, further comprising:

ascertaining a maximum height of all added fields, the added fields including the first set of the plurality of fields and the second set of the plurality of fields; and

resizing the plurality of fields for the first format in accordance with the maximum height of the added fields.

38. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein resizing further comprises determining the maximum height based upon a font associated with the added fields.

39. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein resizing further comprises determining a width of each of the plurality of fields.

40. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein determining the width of each of the plurality of fields comprises determining a data type and number of cells associated with each of the plurality of fields.

41. The method as recited in claim 35, wherein adding the first set of the plurality of fields comprises:

determining whether the plurality of fields in the first format have been reordered; and

copying the first set of the plurality of fields to the first format while maintaining the specified order when it is determined that the plurality of fields in the first format have not been reordered.

42. The method as recited in claim 35, wherein adding the second set of the plurality of fields comprises:

copying non-related fields from the second format to the first format; and

copying related fields from the second format to the first format.

43. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the specified order is set by at least one of user input and a default order.

44. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein providing the first format comprises modifying the first format while maintaining the specified order of the plurality of database fields that have not been reordered in the first format.

45. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein providing the first format comprises modifying the first format such that the specified order of the plurality of database fields is maintained when none of the plurality of database fields have been reordered in the first format.

46. A method of providing a table layout of a form layout including a body defining a plurality of database fields having a specified order and associated attributes, each of the associated attributes having a corresponding attribute value, the method comprising:

including the plurality of database fields in the table layout, the table layout being a first report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records;

deleting one of the plurality of database fields from the form layout, the form layout being a second report format adapted for displaying data associated with one or more database records;

marking for deletion the deleted one of the plurality of database fields in the table layout; and

copying attribute values for each unmarked one of the plurality of database fields from the form layout to the table layout such that the table layout includes the attribute values for each unmarked one of the plurality of fields from the form layout.

47. The method as recited in claim 46, further including deleting each of the plurality of database fields that have been marked for deletion.

48. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the form layout further includes non-body fields including at least one of a header and a footer, the method further comprising:

deleting the non-body fields from the table layout.

49. The method as recited in claim 46, further comprising identifying the unmarked fields as body fields.