2D graph displaying document locations of user-specified concept of interest

• US 7,228,492 B1
• Filed: 07/06/1999
• Issued: 06/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey
• Primary Examiner(s): PAULA, CESAR B
• Application Number:
  US09/348,652
• Time in Patent Office: 2,891 Days
• Field of Search: 707/500, 707/529, 707/531, 345/684, 345/689, 345/440, 345/442, 715/500, 715529-531, 715/501.1, 715/513, 715/515
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present invention, methods and systems for displaying an interest profile for an electronically stored document are provided. Interest profiles provide features that can enhance the experience of reading or using the electronic document. In exemplary embodiments, methods and systems include one or more interest profile techniques, such as graphical presentations and the like, for browsing or searching documents are provided. The graphical presentation can provide information about content of a document. The invention can be embodied in computer systems that include user input devices, processors, displays, storage and the like.

Claims

1. A method of displaying an electronically stored document, said method comprising:

receiving user input identifying a user-specified concept of interest;

analyzing said electronically stored document to identify occurrences of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest in the electronically stored document; and

displaying a visual indicator showing persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document, the persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at the locations determined based upon a number of the occurrences of discussion of the user-specified concept of interest at the locations,

wherein, for a location within the electronically stored document, the visual indicator displays a persistence value of the user-specified concept of interest at that location relative to persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at other locations in the electronically stored document,

wherein the visual indicator comprises a first axis representing locations within the electronically stored document and a second axis representing persistence values of a user-specified concept of interest.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said visual indicator comprises a contour graph image.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said visual indicator comprises a line graph.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said visual indicator comprises a bar graph.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said visual indicator comprises a scatter diagram.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying an elongated thumbnail image of a portion of said electronically stored document in a viewing area of a display, wherein portions of said elongated thumbnail image corresponding to said occurrences of discussion in said portion of the electronically stored documents are annotated.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying a section of said electronically stored document on a display; and

displaying a slider on said visual indicator, said slider highlighting a section of said visual indicator corresponding to said section of said electronically stored document displayed on said display.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

accepting user input moving said slider to a second section of said visual indicator; and

responsive to movement of said slider to said second section of said visual indicator, displaying a section of said electronically stored document corresponding to said second section of said visual indicator on said display.

9. A method of displaying an electronically stored document, said method comprising:

receiving user input identifying a plurality of user-specified concepts of interest;

displaying a plurality of selectable concept indicators, said selectable concept indicators corresponding to said user-specified concepts of interest;

accepting user input selecting a first selectable concept indicator from said plurality of selectable concept indicators corresponding to a first user-specified concept of interest;

analyzing said electronically stored document to identify occurrences in said electronically stored document where said first user-specified concept of interest is discussed; and

displaying a visual indicator showing persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at locations in said electronically stored document, the persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at the locations determined based upon a number of the occurrences of discussion of the first user-specified concept of interest at the locations,

wherein, for a location within the electronically stored document, the visual indicator displays a persistence value of the first user-specified concept of interest at that location relative to persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at other locations in the electronically stored document,

wherein the visual indicator comprises a first axis representing locations within the electronically stored document and a second axis representing persistence values of a user-specified concept of interest.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

accepting user input selecting a second selectable concept indicator from said plurality of selectable concept indicators corresponding to a second user-specified concept of interest; and

displaying, in the visual indicator, persistence values of the second user-specified concept of interest at the locations in said electronically stored document.

11. A computer program product stored on a computer readable medium for displaying an electronically stored document, said computer program product comprising:

code for receiving user input identifying a user-specified concept of interest;

code for analyzing said electronically stored document to identify occurrences of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest in the electronically stored document; and

code for displaying a visual indicator showing persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document, the persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at the locations determined based upon a number of the occurrences of discussion of the user-specified concept of interest at the locations,

wherein, for a location within the electronically stored document, the visual indicator displays a persistence value of the user-specified concept of interest at that location relative to persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at other locations in the electronically stored document,

wherein the visual indicator comprises a first axis representing locations within the electronically stored document and a second axis representing persistence values of a user-specified concept of interest.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein said visual indicator comprises a contour graph image.

13. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein said visual indicator comprises a line graph.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein said visual indicator comprises a bar graph.

15. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein said visual indicator comprises a scatter diagram.

16. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising:

code for displaying an elongated thumbnail image of a portion of said electronically stored document in a viewing area of a display, wherein portions of said elongated thumbnail image corresponding to said occurrences of discussion in said portion of the electronically stored documents are annotated.

17. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising:

code for displaying a section of said electronically stored document on a display; and

code for displaying a slider on said visual indicator, said slider highlighting a section of said visual indicator corresponding to said section of said electronically stored document displayed on said display.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

code for accepting user input moving said slider to a second section of said visual indicator; and

code for displaying a section of said electronically stored document corresponding to said second section of said visual indicator on said display responsive to movement of said slider to said second section of said visual indicator.

19. A computer program product stored on a computer readable medium for providing an interest profile for an electronically stored document, said computer program product comprising:

code for receiving user input identifying a plurality of user-specified concepts of interest;

code for displaying a plurality of selectable concept indicators, said selectable concept indicators corresponding to said user-specified concepts of interest;

code for accepting user input selecting a first selectable concept indicator from said plurality of selectable concept indicators corresponding to a first user-specified concept of interest;

code for analyzing said electronically stored document to identify occurrences in said electronically stored document where said first user-specified concept of interest is discussed;

code for displaying a visual indicator showing persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at various locations in said electronically stored document, the persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at the locations determined based upon a number of the occurrences of discussion of the first user-specified concept of interest at the locations,

wherein, for a location within the electronically stored document, the visual indicator displays a persistence value of the first user-specified concept of interest at that location relative to persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at other locations in the electronically stored document,

wherein the visual indicator comprises a first axis representing locations within the electronically stored document and a second axis representing persistence values of a user-specified concept of interest.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 further comprising:

code for accepting user input selecting a second selectable concept indicator from said plurality of selectable concept indicators corresponding to a second user-specified concept of interest; and

code for displaying, in the visual indicator, persistence values of the second user-specified concept of interest at the locations in said electronically stored document.

21. A system for providing an interest profile for an electronically stored document, said system comprising:

a memory;

a display;

a processor, interconnected to said memory and said display by a bus, said processor operatively disposed to;

receive user input identifying a user-specified concept of interest;

analyze said electronically stored document to identify occurrences of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest in the electronically stored document; and

display a visual indicator showing persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document, the persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at the locations determined based upon a number of the occurrences of discussion of the user-specified concept of interest at the locations,

wherein, for a location within the electronically stored document, the visual indicator displays a persistence value of the user-specified concept of interest at that location relative to persistence values of the user-specified concept of interest at other locations in the electronically stored document,

wherein the visual indicator comprises a first axis representing locations within the electronically stored document and a second axis representing persistence values of a user-specified concept of interest.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein said visual indicator comprises a contour graph image.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein said visual indicator comprises a line graph.

24. The system of claim 21 wherein said visual indicator comprises a bar graph.

25. The system of claim 21 wherein said visual indicator comprises a scatter diagram.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein said processor is further operative to:

display an elongated thumbnail image of a portion of said electronically stored document in a viewing area of said display, wherein portions of said elongated thumbnail image corresponding to said occurrences of discussion in said portion of the electronically stored documents are annotated.

27. The system of claim 21 wherein said processor is further operative to:

display a section of said electronically stored document on said display; and

display a slider on said visual indicator, said slider highlighting a section of said visual indicator corresponding to said section of said electronically stored document displayed on said display.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein said processor is further operative to:

accept user input moving said slider to a second section of said visual indicator; and

display a section of said electronically stored document corresponding to said second section of said visual indicator on said display responsive to movement of said slider to said second section of said visual indicator.

29. A system for providing an interest profile for an electronically stored document, said system comprising:

a memory;

a display;

a processor, interconnected to said memory and said display by a bus, said processor operatively disposed to;

receive user input identifying a plurality of user-specified concepts of interest;

display a plurality of selectable concept indicators, said selectable concept indicators corresponding to said user-specified concepts of interest;

accept user input selecting a first selectable concept indicator from said plurality of selectable concept indicators corresponding to a first user-specified concept of interest;

analyze said electronically stored document to identify occurrences in said electronically stored document where said first user-specified concept of interest is discussed; and

display a visual indicator showing persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at various locations in said electronically stored document, the persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at the locations determined based upon a number of the occurrences of discussion of the first user-specified concept of interest at the locations,

wherein, for a location within the electronically stored document, the visual indicator displays a persistence value of the first user-specified concept of interest at that location relative to persistence values of the first user-specified concept of interest at other locations in the electronically stored document,

wherein the visual indicator comprises a first axis representing locations within the electronically stored document and a second axis representing persistence values of a user-specified concept of interest.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein said processor is further operative to:

accept user input selecting a second selectable concept indicator from said plurality of selectable concept indicators corresponding to a second user-specified concept of interest; and

display, in the visual indicator, persistence values of the second user-specified concept of interest at the locations in said electronically stored document.

31. A method of displaying an electronically stored document, the method comprising:

receiving user input identifying a first concept of interest and a second concept of interest;

analyzing said electronically stored document to identify occurrences of discussion of the first concept of interest and the second concept of interest in the electronically stored document;

determining persistence values of the first concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document based upon the occurrences of discussion of the first concept of interest in the electronically stored document;

determining persistence values of the second concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document based upon the occurrences of discussion of the second concept of interest in the electronically stored document;

determining combined persistence values of the first concept of interest and the second concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document based upon the persistence values of the first concept of interest and the persistence values of the second concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document; and

displaying a visual indicator showing the combined persistence values of the first concept of interest and the second concept of interest at locations within the electronically stored document.