Interactive visualization of sender and recipient information in electronic communications

• US 8,489,588 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2009
• Issued: 07/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Figueroa, Sarah Christine, Ng, Kenney, Rauch, Thyra Lynne
• Primary Examiner(s): Badawi, Sherief
• Application Number:
  US12/643,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20110153635A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,303 Days
• Field of Search: 707/736, 707/734, 707/747, 707/726, 707/797, 707/798, 707/803, 370/254, 709/206
• US Class Current: 707/726
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/20 of structured data, e.g. relational data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2425 Iterative querying; Query formulation based on the results of a preceding query
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

An approach is provided that visually distinguishes between entity types in a communication system. A Data store with entities is queried, with entities connected to one another as senders and receivers, resulting in a query result. A node data structure corresponding to each of the entities is created and an edge data structure corresponding to each of the connections between the entities is also created. Nodes corresponding to the node data structures are displayed, along with edges (e.g., connection lines) corresponding to the edge data structures. A user selects one of the nodes that is displayed, and the selected node is visually highlighted. Different types of non-selected nodes are identified based on the selected node. Types of nodes may include sender type nodes, receiver type nodes, and sender/receiver type nodes. The types of identified nodes are highlighted in a manner that visually distinguishes each type from the other types.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

querying a data store containing entities, wherein a plurality of the entities are each connected to one or more other entities included in the data store, the querying resulting in a query result;

creating a node data structure corresponding to each of a plurality of entities included in the query result and an edge data structure corresponding to each of the connections of the one or more entities included in the query result, wherein each node data structure includes a connection field and a role field, and wherein each edge data structure includes a connection field and a role field;

displaying a plurality of nodes corresponding to the created node data structures and a plurality of edges corresponding to the created edge data structures on a display;

receiving a node selection corresponding to one of the displayed nodes from a user;

visually highlighting the selected node on the display;

updating the connection field corresponding to the plurality of nodes so that a connection type is identified from a group consisting of a direct type, an indirect type, and no type, and updating the role field corresponding to the plurality of nodes so that a role type is identified from a group consisting of a sender, a receiver, both a sender and a receiver, and no role;

identifying a first set of one or more edges that are outgoing from the selected node in relation to the selected node and marking each of the role fields for each of the first set of identified edges as a recipient type edge;

identifying a second set of one or more edges that are incoming to the selected node in relation to the selected node and marking each of the role fields for each of the second set of identified edges as a sender type edge;

setting the connection fields of each of the edges in the first and second sets that are directly connected to the selected node as direct connections;

setting the connection fields of each of the edges in the first and second sets that are not directly connected to the selected node as indirect connections;

identifying one or more types of non-selected nodes in relation to the selected node, wherein one or more of the non-selected nodes are identified as being an indirect sender type to the selected node, one or more of the non-selected nodes as being an indirect receiver type to the selected node, and one or more of the non-selected nodes as being both the indirect sender type and the indirect receiver type to the selected node; and

visually highlighting the identified non-selected nodes in a manner that visually distinguishes each type from the other types, wherein a first highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being the indirect sender type, a second highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being the indirect receiver type, and a third highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being both the indirect sender type and the indirect receiver type.

2. An information handling system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory accessible by at least one of the processors;

a nonvolatile storage medium accessible by at least one of the processors;

a display device accessible by at least one of the processors; and

a set of instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform actions of;

querying a data store containing entities, wherein a plurality of the entities are each connected to one or more other entities included in the data store, the querying resulting in a query result;

creating a node data structure corresponding to each of a plurality of entities included in the query result and an edge data structure corresponding to each of the connections of the one or more entities included in the query result, wherein each node data structure includes a connection field and a role field, and wherein each edge data structure includes a connection field and a role field;

displaying a plurality of nodes corresponding to the created node data structures and a plurality of edges corresponding to the created edge data structures on the display device;

receiving a node selection corresponding to one of the displayed nodes from a user;

visually highlighting the selected node on the display device;

updating the connection field corresponding to the plurality of nodes so that a connection type is identified from a group consisting of a direct type, an indirect type, and no type, and updating the role field corresponding to the plurality of nodes so that a role type is identified from a group consisting of a sender, a receiver, both a sender and a receiver, and no role;

identifying a first set of one or more edges that are outgoing from the selected node in relation to the selected node and marking each of the role fields for each of the first set of identified edges as a recipient type edge;

identifying a second set of one or more edges that are incoming to the selected node in relation to the selected node and marking each of the role fields for each of the second set of identified edges as a sender type edge;

setting the connection fields of each of the edges in the first and second sets that are directly connected to the selected node as direct connections;

setting the connection fields of each of the edges in the first and second sets that are not directly connected to the selected node as indirect connections;

identifying one or more types of non-selected nodes in relation to the selected node, wherein one or more of the non-selected nodes are identified as being an indirect sender type to the selected node, one or more of the non-selected nodes as being an indirect receiver type to the selected node, and one or more of the non-selected nodes as being both the indirect sender type and the indirect receiver type to the selected node; and

visually highlighting the identified non-selected nodes in a manner that visually distinguishes each type from the other types, wherein a first highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being the indirect sender type, a second highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being the indirect receiver type, and a third highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being both the indirect sender type and the indirect receiver type.

3. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable memory device;

first program instructions to query a data store containing entities, wherein a plurality of the entities are each connected to one or more other entities included in the data store, the querying resulting in a query result;

second program instructions to create a node data structure corresponding to each of a plurality of entities included in the query result and an edge data structure corresponding to each of the connections of the one or more entities included in the query result, wherein each node data structure includes a connection field and a role field, and wherein each edge data structure includes a connection field and a role field;

third program instructions to display a plurality of nodes corresponding to the created node data structures and a plurality of edges corresponding to the created edge data structures on a display;

fourth program instructions to receive a node selection corresponding to one of the displayed nodes from a user;

fifth program instructions to visually highlight the selected node on the display;

sixth program instructions to update the connection field corresponding to the plurality of nodes so that a connection type is identified from a group consisting of a direct type, an indirect type, and no type, and updating the role field corresponding to the plurality of nodes so that a role type is identified from a group consisting of a sender, a receiver, both a sender and a receiver, and no role;

seventh program instructions to identify a first set of one or more edges that are outgoing from the selected node in relation to the selected node and marking each of the role fields for each of the first set of identified edges as a recipient type edge;

eighth program instructions to identify a second set of one or more edges that are incoming to the selected node in relation to the selected node and marking each of the role fields for each of the second set of identified edges as a sender type edge;

ninth program instruction to set the connection fields of each of the edges in the first and second sets that are directly connected to the selected node as direct connections;

tenth program instructions to set the connection fields of each of the edges in the first and second sets that are not directly connected to the selected node as indirect connections;

eleventh program instructions to identify one or more types of non-selected nodes in relation to the selected node, wherein one or more of the non-selected nodes are identified as being an indirect sender type to the selected node, one or more of the non-selected nodes as being an indirect receiver type to the selected node, and one or more of the non-selected nodes as being both the indirect sender type and the indirect receiver type to the selected node;

twelfth program instructions to visually highlight the identified non-selected nodes in a manner that visually distinguishes each type from the other types, wherein a first highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being the indirect sender type, a second highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being the indirect receiver type, and a third highlighting is applied to non-selected nodes identified as being both the indirect sender type and the indirect receiver type; and

wherein the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth program instructions are stored on the computer readable memory device.