Method and system for generating and displaying an interactive dynamic list view of multiply connected objects

• US 8,194,075 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2008
• Issued: 06/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Breeds, Robert J., Taunton, Philip R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brier, Jeffery A
• Application Number:
  US12/243,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20100083172A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,343 Days
• Field of Search: 345/440
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A method and system for generating views of data on a user interface in a computing environment, is provided. One implementation involves: at a server, generating coordinate data for a graph representing multiply connected objects; transmitting the coordinate data to a client as lightweight object data; at the client, based on the lightweight object data, rendering an interactive dynamic graph view of the multiply connected objects on a user interface; at the client, based on the lightweight object data, rendering an interactive dynamic list view of the multiply connected objects on a user interface; and synchronizing the list view and the graph view. The order of objects in the list view reflects the order of objects in the graph view per a breadth-first traversal starting at a root object.

Claims

1. A method for generating views of data on a user interface in a computing environment, comprising:

at a server, a first hardware processor employed for;

generating coordinate data for a graph representing multiply connected objects; and

transmitting the coordinate data to a client as lightweight object data;

at the client, based on the lightweight object data, a second hardware processor employed for;

rendering an interactive dynamic graph view of the multiply connected objects on a user interface;

rendering an interactive dynamic list view of the multiply connected objects on a user interface; and

synchronizing the list view and the graph view.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering an interactive dynamic list view of the multiply connected objects on a user interface further includes displaying object graph content in a linear manner in a web browser client, wherein the order of objects in the list view reflects the order of objects in the graph view per a breadth-first traversal starting at a root object.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein synchronizing the list view and the graph view further includes:

in response to a change in an object in the graph view, changing a corresponding entry in the list view accordingly to reflect the change in the graph view such that the views are synchronized; and

in response to a change in an object in the list view, changing a corresponding entry in the graph view accordingly to reflect the change in the list view such that the views are synchronized.

4. The method of claim 3, further including:

at the client, employing the second hardware processor for receiving user input for selecting a view object as an object of focus, and displaying content of the selected object on the user interface.

5. The method of claim 4, further including:

at the client, employing the second hardware processor for receiving user input for navigating through the multiply connected objects in a view.

6. The method of claim 4, further including:

at the server, employing the first hardware processor for;

retrieving data units and data unit relationships from a data source, then generating coordinate data for a graph including data objects representing the data units, and connections between the objects representing the corresponding data unit relationships; and

transforming the coordinate data to a client to lightweight object data for transmission to the client;

at the client, based on the lightweight object data, employing the second hardware processor for;

rendering an interactive dynamic graph view of the multiply connected objects, wherein the graph includes visual elements connected by edges, such that the visual elements represent the objects and the edges represent relationships between the objects; and

rendering an interactive dynamic list view of the multiply connected objects, wherein the list includes visual elements and arrangement of such visual elements, such that the list visual elements represent the objects and the arrangement represents relationships between the objects.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the computing environment comprises a service-oriented architecture and the data source comprises a service registry.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the client comprises a web browser on a thin client computing module, the server comprises a server application on a server computing module, wherein the client module and the server module may be connected via a communication link.

9. A computer program product for generating views of data on a user interface in a computing environment, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium including a computer readable program including program instructions, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computer system causes the computer system to:

employ a first hardware processor at a server to generate coordinate data for a graph representing multiply connected objects and transmit the coordinate data to client as lightweight object data;

at the client, based on the lightweight object data, employ a second hardware processor for rendering an interactive dynamic graph view of the multiply connected objects on a user interface;

at the client, based on the lightweight object data, employ the second hardware processor for;

rendering an interactive dynamic list view of the multiply connected objects on a user interface; and

synchronizing the list view and the graph view.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 further including instructions for displaying object graph content in a linear manner in a web browser client.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 further including instructions for:

in response to a change in an object in the graph view, changing a corresponding entry in the list view accordingly to reflect the change in the graph view such that the views are synchronized; and

in response to a change in an object in the list view, changing a corresponding entry in the graph view accordingly to reflect the change in the list view such that the views are synchronized.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 further including instructions for:

at the client, employing the second hardware processor for receiving user input for selecting a view object as an object of focus, and displaying content of the selected object on the user interface.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 further including instructions for:

at the client, employing the second hardware processor for receiving user input for navigating through the multiply connected objects in a view.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 further including instructions for:

at the server, employing the first hardware processor for;

retrieving data units and data unit relationships from a data source, then generating coordinate data for a graph including data objects representing the data units, and connections between the objects representing the corresponding data unit relationships; and

transforming the coordinate data to a client to lightweight object data for transmission to the client;

at the client, based on the lightweight object data, employing the second hardware processor for;

rendering an interactive dynamic graph view of the multiply connected objects, wherein the graph includes visual elements connected by edges, such that the visual elements represent the objects and the edges represent relationships between the objects; and

rendering an interactive dynamic list view of the multiply connected objects, wherein the list includes visual elements and arrangement of such visual elements, such that the list visual elements represent the objects and the arrangement represents relationships between the objects.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computing environment comprises a service-oriented architecture and the data source comprises a service registry, wherein the order of objects in the list view reflects the order of objects in the graph view per a breadth-first traversal starting at a root object.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the client comprises a web browser on a thin client computing module, the server comprises a server application on a server computing module, wherein the client module and the server module may be connected via a communication link.