Selection context filtering

• US 7,519,585 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2005
• Issued: 04/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kenney, Adam R., Gardner, Scott T., Covington, Clinton D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene; John E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bullock; Joshua
• Application Number:
  US11/316,090
• Publication Number:
  US 20060101013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,212 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1-206
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2428 Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms G06F16/2423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

A method and system for the graphical formulation of filter queries is disclosed which enables data queries to be easily chosen via selection from a menu. A signal is received to filter, or query, a data table. Next, the context of a selection of data is analyzed, and a menu of filters based on that context is formulated and displayed. A filter selection is received, and the corresponding filter is executed. The results of the filter are displayed on the screen.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for graphical construction of filter queries, the method comprising:

displaying on a display device a table of data through a user interface;

receiving a signal from a user through the user interface to select a portion of data in a cell of the displayed table, wherein the selected portion of data is a key field with a value used in filtering;

analyzing a context of the selection of the portion of data to determine the context of the data, wherein the context of the selection of the portion of data is defined by characteristics of the selection of the portion of data, and wherein the analysis is based upon a type of the selected portion of data;

generating a menu of filters based on the context of the selection of the portion of data, wherein the content of the menu of filters is automatically generated in response to the analysis of the selected portion of data, and wherein the content of the menu of filters comprises filters specifically related to the context of the selected portion of data and default filters appropriate for any context;

displaying on the display device the menu of filters in proximity to the selected portion of data, wherein the menu of filters is displayed such that it overlaps the table of data;

receiving a filter selection from said menu of filters;

generating a filter query, wherein the value of the key field is used to determine whether a given row is filtered;

applying the generated filter query to the table of data, wherein applying the generated filter query comprises;

determining whether an existing filter is applied to the table of data;

if an existing filter is applied to the table of data, determining whether the existing filter currently applied to the data table is mutually exclusive to the filter selection;

based upon the determination, automatically removing the currently applied filter from the data table if the existing filter and the filter selection is mutually exclusive, wherein the selected filter is applied to the table of data after the existing filter is removed;

if the existing filter is not mutually exclusive to the filter selection, applying the filter selection in conjunction with the existing filter; and

if there is no existing filter, creating an Original filter based upon the filter selection and applying the Original filter to the table of data; and

displaying on the display device a table of results from applying the generated filter query to the table of data.

2. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising issuing the filter query.

3. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising displaying results associated with the filter query.

4. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein analyzing a context of the selection of a portion of data further comprises determining a data type of a field.

5. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein analyzing a context of the selection of a portion of data further comprises determining a data type of the selection of a portion of data.

6. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein analyzing a context of the selection of a portion of data further comprises determining a location of the selection of a portion of data within a field.

7. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein analyzing a context of the selection of a portion of data further comprises removing an inappropriate filter from the filter menu.

8. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein one or more contents of the menu of filters is configurable by the user.

9. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving specific filter values from the user in a binary fashion.

10. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein the creating an Original filter is further based on the context and the method further comprises creating an associated filter query based on the context.

11. A computer storage medium encoding a computer-implemented method for filtering data based on a context of a selection of data, the method comprising:

displaying a data table through a user interface;

receiving a selection of a portion of data in a cell of the displayed table from a user through the user interface, wherein the selection of the portion of data is a key field with a value used in filtering data table;

analyzing a context of the selection of the portion of data in a cell to determine the context of the data, wherein the context of the selection of the portion of data is defined by characteristics of the selection of the portion of data, and wherein the analysis is based upon a type of the selected portion of data and a position of the selected portion of data;

generating a menu of filter options based on the context of the selection of the portion of data, wherein the content of the menu of filters is automatically generated in response to the analysis of the selection of the portion of data, and wherein the content of the menu of filter options includes filters specifically related to the context of the selection of data and default filters appropriate for any context;

displaying the menu of filter options in proximity to the selected portion of data, wherein the menu of filter options is displayed such that it overlaps the table of data;

receiving a filter selection from said menu of filters;

generating a filter query, wherein the value of the key field is used to determine whether a row is filtered by the filter query;

applying the generated filter query to the table of data, wherein applying the generated filter query comprises;

determining whether an existing filter is applied to the table of data;

if an existing filter is applied to the table of data, determining whether the existing filter currently applied to the data table is mutually exclusive to the filter selection;

based upon the determination, automatically removing the currently applied filter from the data table if the existing filter and the filter selection is mutually exclusive, wherein the selected filter is applied to the table of data after the existing filter is removed;

if the existing filter is not mutually exclusive to the filter selection, applying the filter selection in conjunction with the existing filter; and

if there is no existing filter, creating a Original filter based upon the filter selection and applying the Original filter to the table of data; and

displaying a table of results from applying the filter selection to the table of data.

12. The computer storage medium as defined in claim 11, further comprising:

creating an associated filter query; and

performing the filter query.

13. The computer storage medium as defined in claim 11, wherein creating a Original filter further comprises retrieving data from the selection of a portion of data for use in the Original filter.

14. The computer storage medium as defined in claim 11, wherein analyzing a context of the selection of data comprises one of:

analyzing the data type of the selection of a portion of data; and

analyzing the location of the selection of a portion of data within a field.

15. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein the selected portion of data comprises data selected from a cell in a spreadsheet application.

16. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein the menu of filter options comprises a clear filters option which removes all filters applied to the table of data.