View navigation for creation, update and querying of data objects and textual annotations of relations between data objects

• US 6,618,733 B1
• Filed: 11/14/2000
• Issued: 09/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Revelink Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Revelink Incorporated
• Inventors: White, Jason S., Hall, Rebecca L., Engstrom, Harold H.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHOULES, JACK M
• Application Number:
  US09/712,824
• Time in Patent Office: 1,029 Days
• Field of Search: 707/101, 707/102, 707/103.R, 707/103.Y
• US Class Current: 707/739
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/288 Entity relationship models
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/917 Text
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/954 Relational
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/955 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

A method (and corresponding database system) for displaying in a view window information characterizing semantics of relations between objects. For each given relation between at least one subject object and at least one direct object, bi-directional modifier data is stored that represents first text characterizing semantics of a relationship of the at least one first object to the at least one second object, and represents second text characterizing semantics of a relationship of the at least one second object to the at least one first object. In response to predetermined user input associated with an object node displayed in the view window, a set of relations whose at least one subject object or at least one direct object is associated with the object node is identified. For at least one relation in the set of relations, the view window is updated to include a second node comprising a graphical representation of: the first text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or the second text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation. The second node may be a relation node associated with a given relation, or a mixed node associated with a relation-type pair. In response to predetermined input with a second node, the second node may be expanded to identify and display one or more object nodes (identifying direct object(s) of relations derived from expansion of a subject object associated therewith or identifying subject object(s) of relations derived from expansion of a direct object associated therewith). Preferably, this expansion routine is recursive in nature.

The method (and database system) of the present invention may be used in a wide assortment of software applications, including enterprise applications (such as e-business applications, supply chain management applications, customer relationship management applications, decision support applications), the file system in operating systems, web browsers, e-mail applications and personal information management applications. Importantly, the method (and database system) provides an easy, user friendly and efficient mechanism to define, view and query the organization of the data elements (and the relationships therebetween) stored and accessed in such software applications, in a manner that conveys the real-world meaning of such relationships.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying in a view window information characterizing semantics of relations between objects, the method comprising the steps of:

for each given relation between at least one subject object and at least one direct object, storing in persistent storage data that;

i) represents first text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one subject object to the at least one direct object, and ii) represents second text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one direct object to the at least one subject object;

displaying in the view window an object node, associated with a given object, comprising a graphical characterization of the given object;

in response to predetermined user input associated with the object node,

accessing persistent storage to identify a set of relations whose at least one subject object or at least one direct object is the given object associated with the object node, and

for at least one given relation in the set of relations, updating the view window to include a second node comprising a graphical representation of;

the first text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

the second text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the object node displays the name of the given object.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the object node displays an icon associated with the given object.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second node is indented from the object node.

5. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first text includes first singular text characterizing semantics of a relationship of one first object to at least one second object and first plural text characterizing the semantics of a plurality of first objects to at least one second object, and the second text includes second singular text characterizing semantics of a relationship of one second object to at least one first object and second plural text characterizing semantics of a plurality of second objects to at least one first object; and

wherein the second node comprises a graphical representation of;

the first singular text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

the second singular text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second node is a relation node associated with the given relation.

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

in response to predetermined user input associated with the relation node associated with the given relation, accessing storage to identify a set of types for;

at least one direct object of the given relation associated with the relation node in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the give relation associated with the relation node in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation; and

for at least one given type in the set of types, updating the view window to include a type node comprising a graphical representation of the given type.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the type node comprises a graphical representation of a name for the given type.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the type node comprises a graphical representation of an icon associated with the given type.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the type node is indented from the relation node.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

in response to predetermined user input associated with the type node, accessing storage to identify a set of objects comprising;

at least one direct object of the type of the type node in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the type of the type node in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation; and

for at least one object in the set of objects, updating the view window to include an object node comprising a graphical representation of the at least one object in the set of objects.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second node is a mixed node associated with the given relation and a type for:

at least one direct object of the given relation in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the give relation in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the mixed node includes a graphical representation of a name for the type.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the mixed node comprises a graphical representation of an icon associated with the type.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the mixed node is indented from the object node.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

in response to predetermined user input associated with the mixed node associated with the given relation, accessing storage to identify a set of objects comprising;

at least one direct object of the type of the mixed node in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the type of the mixed node in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation; and

for at least one object in the set of objects, updating the view window to include an object node comprising a graphical representation of the at least one object in the set of objects.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first text and second text comprise arbitrary text strings defined by user input.

18. A computer-implemented method for displaying in a view window information characterizing semantics of relations between objects, the method comprising the steps of:

for each given relation between at least one subject object and at least one direct object storing in persistent storage data that;

i) represents first text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one subject object to the at least one direct object, and ii) represents second text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one direct object to the at least one subject object;

displaying in the view window an object node, associated with a given object, comprising a graphical characterization of the given object;

in response to predetermined user input, expanding the object node to display in the view window;

a graphical representation of one of the first text and second text for a given relation associated with the given object;

a graphical characterization of at least one type of objects related to the given object for the given relation; and

a graphical characterization of a least one object of the at least one type of objects related to the given object for the given relation.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the graphical characterization of the given object comprises a graphical representation of the name of the given object.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the graphical characterization of the given object comprises an icon associated with the given object.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the graphical characterization of the at least one type of objects related to the given object comprises a graphical representation of a name for the at least one type.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the graphical characterization of the at least one type of objects related, to the given object comprises an icon associated with the at least one type.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the first text and second text comprise arbitrary text strings defined by user input.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

performing an expansion routine that enables user-directed expansion of at least one first-object-node to display at least one second node displaying a graphical representation of one of the first text and second text for a given relation associated with the given object, and user-directed expansion of the second node to display at least one second-object-node corresponding to an object related to the given object of the given relation.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of recursively performing the expansion routine to enable user-directed expansion of the second-object-node.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the second node comprises a relation node associated with the given relation.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the second node comprises a mixed node associated with the given relation and a particular object type.

28. A database system for displaying in a view window information characterizing semantics of relations between objects, the database system comprising:

a datastore storing, for each given relation between at least one subject object and at least on direct object, data that;

i) represents first text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one subject object to the at least one direct object, and ii) represents second text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one direct object to the at least one subject object;

a view navigator displaying in the view window an object node, associated with a given object, comprising a graphical characterization of the given object;

wherein the view navigator, in response to predetermined user input associated with the object node,

accesses the datastore to identify a set of relations whose at least one subject object or at least one direct object is the given object associated with the object node, and

for at least one given relation the set of relations, updates the view window to include a second node comprising a graphical representation of;

the first text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

the second text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation.

30. The database system of claim 28, wherein the object node displays an icon associated with the given object.

31. The database system of claim 28, wherein the second node is indented from the object node.

32. The database system of claim 28,

wherein the first text includes first singular text characterizing semantics of a relationship of one first object to at least one second object and first plural text characterizing the semantics of a plurality of first objects to at least one second object, and the second text includes second singular text characterizing semantics of a relationship of one second object to at least one first object and second plural text characterizing semantics of a plurality of second objects to at least one first object; and

wherein the second node comprises a graphical representation of;

the first singular text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

the second singular text of the given relation in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation.

33. The database system of claim 28, wherein the second node is a relation node associated with the given relation.

34. The database system of claim 33, wherein the view navigator operates:

in response to predetermined user input associated with the relation node associated with the given relation, to access the datastore to identify a set of types for;

at least one direct object of the given relation associated with the relation node in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the give relation associated with the relation node in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation; and

for at least one given type in the set of types, updating the view window to include a type node comprising a graphical representation of the given type.

35. The database system of claim 34, wherein the type node comprises a graphical representation of a name for the given type.

36. The database system of claim 34, wherein the type node comprises a graphical representation of an icon associated with the given type.

37. The database system of claim 34, wherein the type node is indented from the relation node.

38. The database system of claim 34, wherein the view navigator operates:

in response to predetermined user input associated with the type node, to access the datastore to identify a set of objects comprising;

at least one direct object of the type of the type node in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the type of the type node in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation; and

for at least one object in the set of objects, updating the view window to include an object node comprising a graphical representation of the at least one object in the set of objects.

39. The database system of claim 28, wherein the second node is a mixed node associated with the given relation and a type for:

at least one direct object of the given relation in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the give relation in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation.

40. The database system of claim 39, wherein the mixed node includes a graphical representation of a name for the type.

41. The database system of claim 39, wherein the mixed node comprises a graphical representation of an icon associated with the type.

42. The database system of claim 39, wherein the mixed node is indented from the object node.

43. The database system of claim 39, wherein the view navigator operates:

in response to predetermined user input associated with the mixed node associated with the given relation, to access the datastore to identify a set of objects comprising;

at least one direct object of the type of the mixed node in the event that the given object is a subject object in the given relation, or

at least one subject object of the type of the mixed node in the event that the given object is a direct object in the given relation; and

for at least one object in the set of objects, updating the view window to include an object node comprising a graphical representation of the at least one object in the set of object.

44. The database system of claim 28, wherein the first text and second text comprise arbitrary text strings defined by user input.

29. The database system of 28, wherein the object node displays the name of the given object.

45. A database system for displaying in a view window information characterizing semantics of relations between objects, the database system comprising:

a datastore storing, for each given relation between at least one subject object and at least one direct object, data that;

i) represents first text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one subject object to the at least one direct object, and ii) represents second text characterizing semantics of the relation of the at least one direct object to the at least one subject object;

a view navigator for displaying in the view window an object node, associated with a given object, comprising a graphical characterization of the given object;

wherein the view navigator, in response to predetermined user input, expands the object node to display in the view window;

a graphical representation of one of the first text and second text for a given relation associated with the given object,

a graphical characterization of at least one type of objects related to the given object for the given relation, and

a graphical characterization of a least one object of the at least one type of objects related to the given object for the given relation.

46. The database system of claim 45, wherein the graphical characterization of the given object comprises a graphical representation of the name of the given object.

47. The database system of claim 45, wherein the graphical characterization of the given object comprises an icon associated with the given object.

48. The database system of claim 45, wherein the graphical characterization of the at least one type of objects related to the given object comprises a graphical representation of a name for the at least one type.

49. The database system of claim 45, wherein the graphical characterization of the at least one type of objects related to the given object comprises an icon associated with the at least one type.

50. The database system of claim 45, wherein the first text and second text comprise arbitrary text strings defined by user input.

51. The database system of claim 45, further comprising an expansion process that enables user-directed expansion of at least one first-object-node to display at least one second node displaying a graphical representation of one of the first text and second text for a given relation associated with the given object, and user-directed expansion of the second node to display at least one second-object-node corresponding to an object related to the given object of the given relation.

52. The database system of claim 51, wherein the expansion process is performed recursively to enable user-directed expansion of the second-object-node.

53. The database system of claim 52, wherein the second node comprises a relation node associated with the given relation.

54. The database system of claim 52, wherein the second node comprises a mixed node associated with the given relation and a particular object type.