Information storage and retrieval system for storing and retrieving the visual form of information from an application in a database

• US 7,143,109 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2001
• Issued: 11/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Waters Technologies Ireland Ltd. (Waters Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NuGenesis Technologies Corp. (Waters Corporation)
• Inventors: Bayiates, Edward Lawrence, Bush, Fitzhugh Gordon III, Gregory, Carey Edwin, Nagral, Ajit S., Dos Santos, Carl Philip Emmanuel, Kaulgud, Milind
• Primary Examiner(s): Kindred, Alford
• Assistant Examiner(s): FILIPCZYK, MARCIN R
• Application Number:
  US09/880,393
• Publication Number:
  US 20010044798A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,994 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/102, 707/204, 707/1, 707/6, 707/7, 707/100, 707/104.1, 715/500, 715/526, 345/419, 345/606
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/917 Text
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

The visual form of data from a computer program is received and stored in a database. The visual form of the data may be received, for example, in response to a print operation by the computer program or by some other operation such as a cut and paste sequence of operations or by sending the data to another application. The visual form of the data may be stored as a vector image that permits scalability. The visual form of the data may be stored with other identifying information or tags in the database to facilitate searching of the database. The data in the database may be encoded in a manner that ensures data integrity and that permits detection of when data has been compromised. In one embodiment, a service layer application is provided to control access to the database by performing encoding and decoding of the data in the database. The service layer may have an application programming interface that permits many applications to have access to the database. Another application may be provided for accessing the visual form of the data from the database and for providing this data to another computer program. Such an application permits a user to create compound documents from data in the database using the other computer program.

Claims

1. A method of viewing a visual form of data associated with tags comprising:

selecting a database containing a plurality of reports wherein each report includes a representation of a visual form of the data corresponding to one of a print form of the data or a display form of the data, each report having one or more associated tags, each of said associated tags including identifying information for said each report, wherein at least one of said tags is included in the visual form of the data, wherein horizontal and vertical coordinates identify a location of at least one text element in the visual form of the data;

selecting at least one report including one or more pages;

for each page of the at least one report, constructing a named temporary file for a metafile containing metafile data corresponding to said each page; and

executing a previewer program which accesses a control file to view said visual form of the data represented by the metafile data included in said named temporary file corresponding to said each page, said control file including said at least one tag and a name of said named temporary file for each metafile corresponding to a page of the at least one report, wherein said previewer program obtains the visual form of the data for each page of the at least one report by playing the metafile data contained in the metafile corresponding to said each page, wherein said previewer program is operable to perform searching for instances of specified text in said at least one report by performing operations on the played metafile data, said searching further comprising;

identifying each text command in one or more metafiles of the at least one report and coordinates identifying a position of text in a text string associated with said each text command;

sorting text commands by page, Y coordinate position within a display, and X coordinate position within the display;

forming a list of records from said sorted text commands, wherein each record is associated with a text string and a position of the text string in the display; and

concatenating a first text string of said text strings from said list with a second text string of said text strings from said list if said first and second text strings are within a predetermined percentage of text height.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

playing the named temporary file to view said visual form of the data by issuing a play metafile command to an operating system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein after selecting the at least one report, the method further includes:

selecting from one of printing, previewing and sending to another application the at least one report.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting printing further includes:

transmitting the named temporary file to a printer device.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein sending the at least one report to another application includes:

creating a send control file including one or more tags, metafile names, a name associated with a destination application, and a set of keystrokes defining how a paste operation is performed in the destination application.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein sending the at least one report to another application further includes:

executing a separate program that uses the send control file to paste the at least one report in a predetermined location in the destination application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein opening the selected database further includes:

prompting the user for a password.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting one of a sort and filter operation to be applied to records of the database associated with said list of reports; and

determining a visual indicator for each record to be displayed indicating whether said each record has been altered based on cyclic redundancy codes of tags for said each record.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

querying the selected database in accordance with filter parameters.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

indicating at least one selected record to the service layer from the query interface, said at least one selected record corresponding to the at least one report selected;

requesting metafiles associated with the at least one selected record from the service layer;

preparing a query statement at the service layer with the at least one report associated with the at least one selected record and pages of the at least one report as a filter;

executing the query statement on a metafile table associated with the database;

storing a metafile for each page of the at least one report in a temporary file;

constructing a list including one or more of report identifiers, page numbers and metafile names; and

providing the list to the query interface to process the list in a predetermined manner in accordance with the selecting from one of printing, previewing and sending to another application the at least one report.

11. The method of claim 9, further including scrolling through a list of records corresponding to reports to further display additional records.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein after opening the selected database, the method further includes copying records from the selected database to another database.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein copying records from the selected database to another database further includes:

receiving a user selection of one or more records at the query interface;

receiving a copy command at the query interface;

prompting the user for a destination database to be opened; and

copying the one or more records into the destination database.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein after opening the selected database the method further includes deleting records from the selected database.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein deleting records from the selected database includes:

receiving a user selection of one or more records for deletion at the query interface;

receiving a delete command at the query interface; and

deleting the selected one or more records for deletion from the database.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a portion of a selected metafile using said previewer program.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

forming a new metafile in accordance with said selecting said portion of said selected metafile.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

representing a selection of said portion of said selected metafile using coordinates defining a rectangular-like shape;

comparing each command of the selected metafile to the coordinates, wherein said each command is included in the new metafile if said each command is one of;

has no associated coordinates and produces display information within a shape formed by the coordinates; and

modifying said each command to be constrained within said coordinates if said each command produces display information that is both inside and outside the shape formed by the coordinates.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of reports includes a command for at least one of:

drawing an object, drawing a line, drawing a shape, drawing text, and controlling style of at least one element included in a report.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said command is associated with a portion of a display or print area.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual form of the data is represented in a vector image.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual form of the data is represented in a metafile.

23. A computer program product for viewing a visual form of data associated with tags comprising:

machine executable code for selecting a database containing a plurality of reports wherein each report includes a representation of a visual form of the data corresponding to one of a print form of the data or a display form of the data, each report having one or more associated tags, each of said associated tags identifying information for said each report, wherein at least one of said tags is included in the visual form of the data, wherein horizontal and vertical coordinates identify a location of at least one text element in the visual form of the data;

machine executable code for selecting at least one report including one or more pages;

machine executable code for constructing, for each page of the at least one report, a named temporary file for a metafile containing metafile data corresponding to said each page; and

machine executable code for executing a previewer program which accesses a control file to view said visual form of the data represented by metafile data included in said named temporary file corresponding to said each page, said control file including said at least one tag and a name of said named temporary file for each metafile corresponding to a page of the at least one report, wherein said previewer program obtains the visual form of the data for each page of the at least one report by playing the metafile data contained in the metafile corresponding to said each page, wherein said previewer program is operable to perform searching for instances of specified text in said at least one report by performing operations on the played metadata, and further comprising machine executable code for;

identifying each text command in one or more metafiles of the at least one report and coordinates identifying a position of text in a text string associated with said each text command;

sorting text commands by page, Y coordinate position within a display, and X coordinate position within the display;

forming a list of records from said sorted text commands, wherein each record is associated with a text string and a position of the text string in the display; and

concatenating a first text string of said text strings from the list with a second text string of said text strings from the list if said first and second text strings are within a predetermined percentage of text height.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 further comprising:

machine executable code for playing the named temporary file to view said visual form of the data by issuing a play metafile command to an operating system.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the computer program product further includes:

machine executable code for selecting from one of printing, previewing and sending to another application the at least one report.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein said machine executable code for selecting printing further includes:

machine executable code for transmitting the named temporary file to a printer device.

27. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein said machine executable code for sending the at least one report to another application includes:

machine executable code for creating a send control file including one or more tags, metafile names, a name associated with a destination application, and a set of keystrokes defining how a paste operation is performed in the destination application.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein said machine executable code for sending the at least one report to another application further includes:

machine executable code for executing a separate program that uses the send control file to paste the at least one report in a predetermined location in the destination application.

29. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein said machine executable code for opening the selected database further includes:

machine executable code for prompting the user for a password.

30. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

machine executable code for selecting one of a sort and filter operation to be applied to records of the database associated with said list of reports; and

machine executable code for determining a visual indicator for each record to be displayed indicating whether said each record has been altered based on cyclic redundancy codes of tags for said each record.

31. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

machine executable code for querying the selected database in accordance with filter parameters.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising:

machine executable code for indicating at least one selected record to the service layer from the query interface, said at least one selected record corresponding to the at least one report selected;

machine executable code for requesting metafiles associated with the at least one selected record from the service layer;

machine executable code for preparing a query statement at the service layer with the at least one report associated with the at least one selected record and pages of the at least one report as a filter;

machine executable code for executing the query statement on a metafile table associated with the database;

machine executable code for storing a metafile for each page of the at least one report in a temporary file;

machine executable code for constructing a list including one or more of report identifiers, page numbers and metafile names; and

machine executable code for providing the list to the query interface to process the list in a predetermined manner in accordance with the selecting from one of printing, previewing and sending to another application the at least one report.

33. The computer program product of claim 31, further including machine executable code for scrolling through a list of records corresponding to reports to further display additional records.

34. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein after opening the selected database, the computer program product further includes machine executable code for copying records from the selected database to another database.

35. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein said machine executable code for copying records from the selected database to another database further includes:

machine executable code for receiving a user selection of one or more records at the query interface;

machine executable code for receiving a copy command at the query interface;

machine executable code for prompting the user for a destination database to be opened; and

machine executable code for copying the one or more records into the destination database.

36. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein after opening the selected database the computer program product further includes machine executable code for deleting records from the selected database.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein said machine executable code for deleting records from the selected database includes:

machine executable code for receiving a user selection of one or more records for deletion at the query interface;

machine executable code for receiving a delete command at the query interface; and

machine executable code for deleting the selected one or more records for deletion from the database.

38. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

machine executable code for selecting a portion of a selected metafile using said previewer program.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, further comprising:

machine executable code for forming a new metafile in accordance with said selecting said portion of said selected metafile.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising:

machine executable code for representing a selection of said portion of said selected metafile using coordinates defining a rectangular-like shape;

machine executable code for comparing each command of the selected metafile to the coordinates, wherein said each command is included in the new metafile if said each command is one of;

has no associated coordinates and produces display information within a shape formed by the coordinates; and

machine executable code for modifying said each command to be constrained within said coordinates if said each command produces display information that is both inside and outside the shape formed by the coordinates.

41. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein at least one of said plurality of reports includes a command for at least one of:

drawing an object, drawing a line, drawing a shape, drawing text, and controlling style of at least one element included in a report.

42. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein said command is associated with a portion of a display or print area.

43. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the visual form of the data is represented in a vector image.

44. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the visual form of the data is represented in a metafile.