Data analysis using facet attributes

• US 8,024,656 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Issued: 09/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Jin, Qi, Pfahl, Timo, Behnen, Marion, Pirk, Holger, Cole, Richard L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo; Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Iturralde; Enrique W
• Application Number:
  US11/693,711
• Publication Number:
  US 20080244433A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,635 Days
• Field of Search: 715/705, 715/708, 715711-713, 715/810, 715/841, 715/845, 715/853, 715/854, 707/3, 707/600
• US Class Current: 715/711
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A method, computer program product, and system for analyzing data using a data warehouse application are provided. The method, computer program product, and system provide for displaying a facet in a user interface of the data warehouse application, the facet classifying a plurality of documents, and displaying a facet attribute of the facet in the user interface of the data warehouse application, the facet attribute corresponding to a characteristic associated with each of the plurality of documents classified by the facet.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing data using a data warehouse application, the method comprising:

outputting, for display on a display device, a plurality of facets in a first user interface of the data warehouse application, each facet classifying a plurality of documents, wherein the plurality of facets allow navigating the plurality of documents along multiple paths corresponding to different orderings of the plurality of facets; and

in response to receiving a user selection of a facet of the plurality of facets via the first user interface of the data warehouse application, outputting a facet attribute of the selected facet for display in one or more pop-up menus associated with the selected facet, the facet attribute corresponding to a characteristic associated with each of the plurality of documents classified by the selected facet, wherein the characteristic comprises at least one of document staleness, document confidence, document reliability, and document popularity

wherein the facet attribute comprises;

(i) an identifier for the facet attribute;

(ii) a plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute; and

(iii) for each value range of the plurality of value ranges, an associated count of documents of the plurality of documents having, for the characteristic, a characteristic value within the respective value range, each value range being selectable such that;

(i) a representation of the plurality of documents in a second user interface of the data warehouse application is refreshed based on the respective value range and (ii) each value within the respective value range is output for display in the one or more pop-up menus associated with the respective facet,

the data warehouse application allowing faceted analysis to be simultaneously used with online analytical processing (OLAP) analysis.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein responsive to a user selection of one of the plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute,

outputting, in the first user interface of the data warehouse application, each value within the value range that matches the characteristic value of at least one document;

and

for each value output, indicating a number of documents having a matching characteristic value in the first user interface of the data warehouse application.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting the representation of the plurality of documents classified by the facet in the second user interface of the data warehouse application, wherein the representation comprises at least one of a graphical representation and a table representation.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein responsive to a user selection of one of the plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute,

updating the representation in the second user interface of the data warehouse application to reflect the user selection of the value range.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein updating the representation comprises:

limiting the representation in the second user interface to the documents having a characteristic value within the value range.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the first user interface of the data warehouse application is a faceted user interface and the second user interface of the data warehouse application is an OLAP user interface.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic associated with each of the plurality of documents is a confidence characteristic.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein each value range is selectable such that each value within the respective value range is output for display in the one or more pop-up menus associated with the selected facet, and wherein each value within the respective value range is selectable such that the representation of the plurality of documents in the second user interface of the data warehouse application is refreshed based on the respective value.

8. A system for analyzing data using a data warehouse application, the system comprising:

a data model storing a plurality of facets that each classifies a plurality of documents and a facet attribute of a facet of the plurality of facets, the facet attribute corresponding to a characteristic associated with each of the plurality of documents classified by the facet, wherein the characteristic comprises at least one of document staleness, document confidence, document reliability, and document popularity,

wherein the facet attribute comprises;

(i) an identifier for the facet attribute;

(ii) a plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute; and

(iii) for each value range of the plurality of value ranges, an associated count of documents of the plurality of documents having, for the characteristic, a characteristic value within the respective value range, wherein the plurality of facets allow navigating the plurality of documents along multiple paths corresponding to different orderings of the plurality of facets; and

a first user interface of the data warehouse, the first user interface displaying the facet and the facet attribute of the facet stored in the data model, in response to receiving a user selection of the facet via the first user interface, wherein the facet attribute is displayed in one or more pop-up menus associated with the facet, and wherein each value range is selectable such that ;

(i) a representation of the plurality of documents in a second user interface of the data warehouse application is refreshed based on the respective value range and (ii) each value within the respective value range is output, by operation of one or more computer processors, for display in the one or more pop-up menus associated with the facet,

the data warehouse application allowing faceted analysis to be simultaneously used with online analytical processing (OLAP) analysis.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein responsive to a user selection of one of the plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute, the first user interface:

displays each value within the value range that matches the characteristic value of at least one document, and

for each value displayed, indicates a number of documents having a matching characteristic value.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein

the system further comprises the second user interface of the data warehouse application, the second user interface displaying the representation of the plurality of documents classified by the facet, wherein the representation comprises at least one of a graphical representation and a table representation.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein responsive to a user selection of one of the plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute, the second user interface

updates the representation to reflect the user selection of the value range.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the second user interface updates the representation by limiting the representation to the documents having a characteristic value within the value range.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the first user interface of the data warehouse application is a faceted user interface and the second user interface of the data warehouse application is an OLAP user interface.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the data warehouse application allows faceted analysis to be simultaneously used with online analytical processing (OLAP) analysis.

23. The system of claim 8, wherein each value range is selectable such that each value within the respective value range is output for display in the one or more pop-up menus associated with the facet, and wherein each value within the respective value range is selectable such that the representation of the plurality of documents in the second user interface of the data warehouse application is refreshed based on the respective value.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium, the computer readable storage medium including a computer readable program for analyzing data using a data warehouse application, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

display a plurality of facets in a first user interface of the data warehouse application, each facet classifying a plurality of documents, wherein the plurality of facets allow navigating the plurality of documents along multiple paths corresponding to different orderings of the plurality of facets; and

display a facet attribute of a facet of the plurality of facets in the first user interface of the data warehouse application in response to receiving a user selection of the facet via the first user interface, the facet attribute corresponding to a characteristic associated with each of the plurality of documents classified by the facet, wherein the characteristic comprises at least one of document staleness, document confidence, document reliability, and document popularity, wherein the facet attribute is displayed in one or more pop-up menus associated with the facet,

wherein the facet attribute comprises;

(i) an identifier for the facet attribute;

(ii) a plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute; and

(iii) for each value range of the plurality of value ranges, an associated count of documents of the plurality of documents having, for the characteristic, a characteristic value within the respective value range, each value range being selectable such that;

(i) a representation of the plurality of documents in a second user interface of the data warehouse application is refreshed based on the respective value range and (ii) each value within the respective value range is output for display in the one or more pop-up menus associated with the facet,

the data warehouse application allowing faceted analysis to be simultaneously used with online analytical processing (OLAP) analysis.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein responsive to a user selection of one of the plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute, the computer readable program further causes the computer to:

display, in the first user interface of the data warehouse application, each value within the value range that matches the characteristic value of at least one document; and

for each value displayed, indicate a number of documents having a matching characteristic value in the first user interface of the data warehouse application.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computer to:

display the representation of the plurality of documents classified by the facet in the second user interface of the data warehouse application, wherein the representation comprises at least one of a graphical representation and a table representation.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein responsive to a user selection of one of the plurality of value ranges of the facet attribute, the computer readable program further causes the computer to:

update the representation in the second user interface of the data warehouse application to reflect the user selection of the value range.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein update of the representation comprises:

limiting the representation in the second user interface to the documents having a characteristic value within the value range.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the first user interface of the data warehouse application is a faceted user interface and the second user interface of the data warehouse application is an OLAP user interface.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the characteristic associated with each of the plurality of documents is a confidence characteristic.

24. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein each value range is selectable such that each value within the respective value range is output for display in the one or more pop-up menus associated with the facet, and wherein each value within the respective value range is selectable such that the representation of the plurality of documents in the second user interface of the data warehouse application is refreshed based on the respective value.