Grouping and display of logically defined reports

• US 8,190,992 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2006
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tien, Ian, Hulen, Corey, Lim, Chen-I, Blood, Robert Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Ries, Laurie
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mills, Frank D
• Application Number:
  US11/408,450
• Publication Number:
  US 20070260625A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,230 Days
• Field of Search: 715/200, 715/252, 715/243
• US Class Current: 715/243
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

Report views offer a user the ability to specify ancillary data views and also view that data in a scorecard viewing experience. A report view definition may be implemented as a metadata-based mapping of logical reports to physical reports for scorecards and KPIs. Reports are categorized based on their presentation size and/or type. Categorized report attributes included in the report view metadata are managed by a configuration UI. The report view metadata further includes schema, ordering capabilities, and mapping UI such as re-use of report views in multiple areas.

Claims

1. A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device for grouping logically defined reports, the method comprising:

determining a plurality of logically defined reports;

determining a suitable presentation size for each of the plurality of logically defined reports, wherein determining the suitable presentation size for each of the plurality of logically defined reports comprises determining the suitable presentation size based at least in part on a reporting application capability;

categorizing, by the computing device, each of the plurality of logically defined reports based on the presentation size for each report, wherein categorizing each of the plurality of logically defined reports allows for consuming each report based on its category;

receiving a modification to at least one of the plurality of logically defined reports, the modification corresponding to a change in a grouping property of the at least one logically defined report, the grouping property comprising a group name property, a presentation size property, and a report type property; and

dynamically updating the categorization of the at least one logically defined report based on the received modification.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning one of a numeric attribute and alphanumeric attribute to each report based on its category.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a type of each of the plurality of logically defined reports; and

categorizing each of the plurality of logically defined reports based on their type.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the type of each of the plurality of defined reports includes determining the type of each report including one of:

a map, a chart, one or more comments, an image, a video stream, an audio stream, and a transaction list.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein consuming each report includes at least one from a set of:

generating each report, storing each report, and performing a query using each report.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a User Interface (UI) for managing an attribute associated with each report from a set of;

a property, a layout, an order, and a mapping of each report in a report view screen.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein providing the UI comprises providing the UI configured to provide a listing of available reports grouped by their corresponding categories.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the UI comprises presenting the UI as one of a task pane, a pop-up display, a hover-over display, and a dropdown menu.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the UI comprises providing the UI configured to provide the listing of available reports and manage the attribute of each report based on a subscriber credential.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the UI for managing the attribute associated with each report comprises including the attribute of each report in report view metadata in a parameterized form.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

providing the report view screen based on selections made through the UI.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the suitable presentation size for each report is further based on at least one from a set of:

a computing device capability, a report content, and a user preference.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of logically defined reports comprises determining the plurality of logically defined reports associated with at least one element of a scorecard.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having computer executable instructions which when executed performs a method for managing parameterized subordinate reports in a scorecard system, the method executed by the computer executable instructions comprising:

determining a plurality of reports associated with an element of a scorecard;

determining a suitable presentation size for each of the plurality of reports, wherein determining the suitable presentation size for each of the plurality of reports is based at least in part on at least one of the following;

a reporting application capability and a content of each report;

determining a type for each of the plurality of reports;

categorizing each of the plurality of reports based on the type of each report and the presentation size for each report, wherein categorizing each of the plurality of logically defined reports allows for consuming each report based on its category; and

providing a User Interface (UI) for managing at least one attribute associated with each report; and

receiving a modification to a grouping attribute of at least one of the plurality of logically defined reports, the grouping attribute comprising a group identifier; and

dynamically updating the categorization of the at least one logically defined report based on the received modification to the grouping attribute.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein providing the UI comprises providing the UI configured to enable a subscriber to define the report type and the presentation size in addition to a predefined selection of report types and presentation sizes.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions further comprise creating groups of subordinate reports based on report categories.

17. A system for managing logically defined reports in a scorecard system, the system comprising:

a computing device comprising a memory storage and a processing unit;

a scorecard application configured to compute scorecard metrics and provide a scorecard presentation based on the computed scorecard metrics; and

a report configuration module configured to;

determine a number of available report definitions for a scorecard element based on a type of data associated with the scorecard element;

determine a presentation size associated with each available report by determining a reporting capability of the scorecard application;

categorize the available report definitions based on their presentation sizes; and

provide a set of user interface controls for visualizing and managing contents and layout of the available reports, wherein the set of user interface controls for visualizing and managing the contents and the layout of the available reports are operative to;

allow a subscriber to change which report view data to show in a region based on an associated report definition, and

update the categorization of the report view data based on a change to the associated report definition.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the report configuration module is further configured to provide a physical instantiation of each category of the available reports for generating a report view screen.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the report configuration module is further configured to parameterized attributes of each available report to a reporting application.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the report configuration module is integrated with the scorecard application.