Displaying facet tree elements and logging facet element item counts to a sequence document

• US 7,774,383 B2
• Filed: 05/24/2005
• Issued: 08/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hawley, J. Christopher, Lee, Raymond, Ceste, Mario Gerald Jr., Roy, Matthew Norman, Acevedo-Aviles, Joel C., Handy-Bosma, John Hans
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nofal; Christopher P
• Application Number:
  US11/136,658
• Publication Number:
  US 20060288039A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,904 Days
• Field of Search: 707/4, 707/10, 707/101.4, 715/513, 715/500
• US Class Current: 707/805
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/956 Hierarchical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/968 interface for database querying and retrieval

Abstract

A set of programs is disclosed comprising a web display interface program (WIP), a Display Configuration Program (DCP) and a Sequence Logging Program (SLP). Responsive to user actions, the set of programs provide instructions to a server connected to storage containing a facet tree database and a rules database. The WIP comprises a user interface and a set of servlets that read the facet element to be displayed from the facet tree database, and based upon the user characteristics, acquire the appropriate display rules for the user from the rules database. The DCP allows an administrator to select or configure rules that will establish views for different end users that are tailored to those particular end users. The SLP allows end users to navigate through a set of facets using a standard faceted search, or using a previously constructed sequence of facets, and logs the user choices for later use.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling a display of facet tree elements, the method comprising providing a plurality of instructions to a computer connected to a storage device containing a rules database and a facet tree database, wherein the plurality of instructions are adapted to cause the computer to perform steps comprising:

displaying a user interface for selecting a facet tree from a plurality of facet trees and selecting a user category from a plurality of categories;

responsive to a user'"'"'s selections of the facet tree and the user category, acquiring a set of display rules applicable to a user characteristic from the rules database;

prior to displaying a specialized view of the facet tree, applying the set of display rules to the facet tree and performing calculations to return an appropriate facet element item count in each of a plurality of elements from the facet tree;

displaying a specialized view of the facet tree that includes the appropriate facet element item count, wherein the specialized view is configured such that only those portions of the facet tree to which the user is authorized access by the set of display rules associated with the user characteristic are displayed to the user on the interface; and

logging a plurality of navigation choices and the appropriate facet element item count in each of a plurality of elements from the facet tree to a sequence document.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein logging the navigation choices further comprises receiving a sequence comprising a plurality of choice inputs in response to user navigation of the specialized view and further logging the plurality of navigation choices in response to the user specifying a specific person or a group for which the sequence is intended.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the sequence document is an Extensible Markup Language file.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to a user triggering an activation device, toggling between an original facet tree from the facet tree database and the particular view of the facet tree.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the plurality of categories comprise;

a sellers category, a market developers category, an administrators category, and a business partners category.

15. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the plurality of categories comprise;

a sellers category, a market developers category, an administrators category, and a business partners category.

6. An apparatus for controlling display of facet tree elements comprising a computer connected to a storage containing a rules database and a facet tree database and a program in the storage containing a plurality of instructions adapted to cause the computer to perform steps comprising:

providing a plurality of instructions to a computer connected to a storage device containing a rules database and a facet tree database, wherein the plurality of instructions are adapted to cause the computer to perform steps comprising;

displaying a user interface for selecting a facet tree from a plurality of facet trees and selecting a user category from a plurality of categories;

responsive to a user'"'"'s selections of the facet tree and the user category, acquiring a set of display rules applicable to a user characteristic from the rules database;

prior to displaying a specialized view of the facet tree, applying the set of display rules to the facet tree and performing calculations to return an appropriate facet element item count in each of a plurality of elements from the facet tree;

displaying a specialized view of the facet tree that includes the appropriate facet element item count, wherein the specialized view is configured such that only those portions of the facet tree to which the user is authorized access by the set of display rules associated with the user characteristic are displayed to the user on the interface; and

logging a plurality of navigation choices and the appropriate facet element item count in each of a plurality of elements from the facet tree to a sequence document.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein logging the navigation choices further comprises receiving a sequence comprising a plurality of choice inputs in response to user navigation of the specialized view and further logging the plurality of navigation choices in response to the user specifying a specific person or a group for which the sequence is intended.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the sequence document is an Extensible Markup Language file.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the plurality of instructions are further adapted to cause the computer to perform steps comprising:

responsive to a user triggering an activation device, toggling between an original facet tree from the facet tree database and the particular view of the facet tree.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

wherein the plurality of categories comprise;

a sellers category, a market developers category, an administrators category, and a business partners category.

11. A computer program product for controlling display of facet tree elements comprising a computer readable medium, wherein the computer readable medium contains a plurality of instructions adapted to cause a computer connected to a storage containing a rules database and a facet tree database to perform steps comprising:

providing a plurality of instructions to a computer connected to a storage device containing a rules database and a facet tree database, wherein the plurality of instructions are adapted to cause the computer to perform steps comprising;

displaying a user interface for selecting a facet tree from a plurality of facet trees and selecting a user category from a plurality of categories;

responsive to a user'"'"'s selections of the facet tree and the user category, acquiring a set of display rules applicable to a user characteristic from the rules database;

prior to displaying a specialized view of the facet tree, applying the set of display rules to the facet tree and performing calculations to return an appropriate facet element item count in each of a plurality of elements from the facet tree;

displaying a specialized view of the facet tree that includes the appropriate facet element item count, wherein the specialized view is configured such that only those portions of the facet tree to which the user is authorized access by the set of display rules associated with the user characteristic are displayed to the user on the interface; and

logging a plurality of navigation choices and the appropriate facet element item count in each of a plurality of elements from the facet tree to a sequence document.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein logging the navigation choices further comprises receiving a sequence comprising a plurality of choice inputs in response to user navigation of the specialized view and further logging the plurality of navigation choices response to the user specifying a specific person or a group for which the sequence is intended.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the sequence document is an Extensible Markup Language file.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the plurality of instructions are further adapted to cause the computer to perform steps comprising:

responsive to a user triggering an activation device, toggling between an original facet tree from the facet tree database and the particular view of the facet tree.