Conditional highlighting of given cells in a dynamic HTML table

• US 6,851,088 B1
• Filed: 12/07/1999
• Issued: 02/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McClain, Matthew Dale, Xu, Lin, Conner, Michael Haden
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Maikhanh
• Application Number:
  US09/455,710
• Time in Patent Office: 1,883 Days
• Field of Search: 715/503, 715/504, 715/509, 715/528, 715/529, 715/500, 715/501.1, 715/513, 707/102, 707/100, 707/103.R, 709/203
• US Class Current: 715/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/177 of tables; using ruled lines
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

A method operative at a server for generating a table having dynamic data. According to the method, a page developer may specify a given table cell in the table for conditional treatment. In response to a request for the table received from a client browser, the table is populated with dynamic data, preferably by instantiating a table format object. If the dynamic data in the table cell meets a given condition, the table cell is highlighted. Using this technique, the page developer may conditionally highlight a particular cell based on the characteristics of the dynamic data to be presented in the cell.

Claims

1. A method, operative at a server, for generating a table having dynamic data, comprising the steps of:

setting a condition in a table format object to identify a given table cell for conditional treatment based on the condition;

including executable code for the table format object in a document containing markup language;

receiving a request from a client for the document;

responsive to the received request, instantiating the table format object with dynamic data to generate the table; and

in response to a determination to apply the conditional treatment to the given table cell with dynamic data having a value that satisfies the condition, setting an attribute or property for the given table cell by modifying markup language in the document for the given table cell.

2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the step of determining to apply the conditional treatment includes:

determining whether the dynamic data in the given table cell has a given value; and

if the dynamic data in the given table cell has the given value, highlighting the given table cell.

3. The method as described in claim 2 wherein the step of highlighting the given table cell modifies a color of the given table cell.

4. The method as described in claim 3 wherein the step of highlighting the given table cell modifies a font of the given table cell.

5. The method as described in claim 1 further including the step of returning the table to a requesting browser.

6. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the table is an HTML table.

7. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the step of instantiating the table format object includes formatting the dynamic data according to a set of properties set on the table format object.

8. The method as described in claim 7 wherein the step of formatting the dynamic data includes attaching table, row, column and cell attributes to the table.

9. A computer program product in a computer useable medium for use in a data processing system for generating a table, the computer program product comprising:

means for setting a condition in a table format object to identify a given table cell for conditional treatment based on the condition;

means for including executable code for the table format object in a document containing markup language;

means for receiving a request from a client for the document;

means, responsive to the received request, for instantiating the table format object with dynamic data to generate a table; and

means for setting, in response to a determination to apply the conditional treatment to the given table cell with dynamic data having a value that satisfies the condition, an attribute or property for the given table cell by modifying markup language in the document for the given table cell.

10. The computer program product as described in claim 9 wherein means for determining to apply the conditional treatment includes:

means for determining whether the dynamic data in the given table cell has a given value; and

means for highlighting the given table cell if the dynamic data in the given table cell has the given value.

11. The computer program product as described in claim 10 wherein the means for highlighting the given table cell modifies a color or a font of the given table cell.

12. The computer program product as described in claim 9 further including means for returning the document to a requesting browser.

13. The computer program product as described in claim 9 wherein the table is an HTML table.

14. The computer program product as described in claim 9 wherein the means for instantiating the table format object includes means for formatting the dynamic data according to a set of properties set on the table format object.

15. The computer program product as described in claim 14 wherein the means for formatting the dynamic data includes attaching table, row, column, and cell attributes to the table.

16. A server, comprising:

a processor;

means for setting a condition in a table format object to identify a given table cell for conditional treatment based on the condition;

means for including executable code for the table format object in a document containing markup language;

means for receiving a request from a client for the document;

means, responsive to the received request, for instantiating the table format object with dynamic data to generate a table; and

means for setting, in response to a determination to apply the conditional treatment to the given table cell with dynamic data having a value that satisfies the condition, an attribute or property for the given table cell by modifying markup language in the document for the given table cell.

17. The server as described in claim 16 wherein means for determining to apply the conditional treatment includes:

means for determining whether the dynamic data in the given table cell has a given value; and

means for highlighting the given table cell if the dynamic data in the given table cell has the given value.

18. The server as described in claim 17 wherein the means for highlighting the given table cell modifies a color or a font of the given table cell.

19. The server as described in claim 16 further including means for returning the document to a requesting browser.

20. The server as described in claim 16 wherein the table is an HTML table.

21. The server as described in claim 16 wherein the means for instantiating the table format object includes means for formatting the dynamic data according to a set of properties set on the table format object.

22. The server as described in claim 21 wherein the means for formatting the dynamic data includes attaching table, row, column, and cell attributes to the table.