Timeline visualizations linked with other visualizations of data in a thin client

• US 8,560,946 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2007
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnitracs LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: VisTracks Incorporated (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Fugitt, Jesse Adam, Rivard, Kurt David, Eick, Stephen Gregory
• Primary Examiner(s): Pesin, Boris
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hur, Ece
• Application Number:
  US11/725,119
• Publication Number:
  US 20070245238A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,405 Days
• Field of Search: 715/963, 715/700, 707/E17.109, 345/440
• US Class Current: 715/700
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/963 Calendar or scheduling

Abstract

An apparatus in one example has: a controller having a data connector for inputting temporal data, and an item collection for providing timelines and overlays, and for providing linked visualizations of the temporal data in a timeline to other visualizations of the temporal data; and a display for displaying the timeline and overlays, and the linked visualizations. The method may have the steps of: obtaining temporal data; displaying the temporal data in at least one timeline in a web browser and in at least one other visualization in the web browser; and linking the displayed data in the at least one timeline with the displayed data in the at least one other visualization.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining temporal data;

displaying the temporal data in at least one timeline on a web page in a web browser and in at least one other visualization in the web page of the web browser concurrently, wherein the at least one timeline is a drawing,

wherein at least two different times and data associated with those times are plotted against one another on the at least one timeline, and

wherein the at least two different times on the at least one timeline are represented by points located on a line,

wherein the temporal data is displayed in at least first and second timelines concurrently on the web page of the web browser,

wherein the first and second timelines have different time scales, and wherein the at least one timeline is synchronized with other timelines on the common web page in the web browser so that the timelines pan at a common rate;

linking the displayed data in at least one timeline with the displayed data in the at least one other visualization such that a change in the display of temporal data of a portion thereof in the at least one timeline is synchronized with the display of temporal data in the at least one other visualizations;

providing a best fit algorithm wherein the timeline by default uses a best fit algorithm so that data items, including date ranges, icons, and text labels of the data items, do not overlap each other; and

scaling the temporal data such that when a large amount of data needs to be shown at a given date, an “

over plotting”

indicator is shown rather than stacking all of the data on top of each other.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the temporal data is interactive.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one timeline is displayed in a web browser in a thin client.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises interactive panning and zooming of the temporal data in the first and second timelines without refreshing the web page.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one timeline is synchronized with all other timelines and visualizations of the temporal data.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one timeline is synchronized with the other visualizations of the temporal data.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one timeline is displayable in a plurality of display modes.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the temporal data is displayed in a web page, and wherein the method further comprises selectively displaying specific data elements in the temporal data without refreshing the web page.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises selectively highlighting specific data elements in the displayed temporal data without refreshing the web page.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises using a toolbar in the web browser to interact in real time with the temporal data in the at least one timeline.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the temporal data is formatable in any one of a plurality of standard formats.

45. The method according to claim 1, wherein the line on which lie the points that represent the two different times on the at least one timeline is a straight line.

46. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one other visualization is other than a timeline.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a controller having a data connector for inputting temporal data, and an item collection for providing timelines and overlays, and for providing linked visualizations of the temporal data in a timeline to other visualizations of the temporal data such that a change in the display of temporal data of a portion thereof in the at least one timeline is synchronized with the display of temporal data in the at least one other visualizations,

wherein the at least one timeline is a drawing,

wherein at least two different times and data associated with those times are plotted against one another on the at least one timeline,

wherein the at least two different times on the at least one timeline are represented by points located on a line,

a display for concurrently displaying the timeline and overlays, and the linked visualizations,

wherein the temporal data is displayed in at least first and second timelines concurrently on the display,

wherein the first and second timelines have different time scales, and wherein the at least one timeline is synchronized with other timelines on the common display so that the timelines pan at a common rate,

best fit algorithm wherein the timeline by default uses a best fit algorithm so that data items, including date ranges, icons, and text labels of the data items, do not overlap each other, and

a visual scalability function wherein when a large amount of data needs to be shown at a given date, an “

over plotting”

indicator is shown rather than stacking all of the data on top of each other.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a respective timeline is instantiated by giving the respective timeline a name and an element identification for where the respective timeline is to be placed on a respective web page.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the respective timeline is given a start date, an end date, and a time scale to be used as default values when the respective timeline loads in the respective web page.

47. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the line on which lie the points that represent the two different times on the at least one timeline is a straight line.

48. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the at least one other visualization is other than a timeline.

15. A method comprising:

obtaining temporal data by a thin client from a server;

displaying the temporal data in at least one timeline in a web page in a web browser and in at least one other visualization in the web browser concurrently, wherein the at least one timeline is a drawing,

wherein at least two different times and data associated with those times are plotted against one another on the at least one timeline,

wherein the at least two different times on the at least one timeline are represented by points located on a line, and

wherein the temporal data is displayed in at least first and second timelines on the web page of the web browser,

wherein the first and second timelines have different time scales, and wherein the at least one timeline is synchronized with other timelines on a common web page in the web browser so that the timelines pan at a common rate; and

linking the displayed data in the at least one timeline with the displayed data in the at least one other visualization such that a change in the display of temporal data of a portion thereof in the at least one timeline is synchronized with the display of temporal data in the at least one other visualizations,

providing a best fit algorithm wherein the timeline by default uses a best fit algorithm so that data items, including date ranges, icons, and text labels of the data items, do not overlap each other; and

scaling the temporal data such that when a large amount of data needs to be shown at a given date, an “

over plotting”

indicator is shown rather than stacking all of the data on top of each other.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the temporal data in the timeline is synchronized to the temporal data in each of the other visualizations of the temporal data such that a change in the display of temporal data of a portion thereof in one of the timeline and other visualizations is effected in each of the other visualizations of the temporal data.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the method further comprises interactive panning and zooming of the temporal data in the first and second timelines without refreshing the web page.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the method further comprises selectively displaying specific data elements in the temporal data without refreshing the web page.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein the method further comprises selectively highlighting specific data elements in the displayed temporal data without refreshing the web page.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein each element of temporal data corresponds to an event on a respective timeline, and wherein when a new event occurs, the new event is set to age off the respective timeline after a given amount of time.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein as the new event ages, a display of the new event will become more transparent.

22. The method according to claim 15, wherein the temporal data is replayable on a respective timeline in an order in which the temporal data occurred.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein standard features comprising at least one of pause, fast forward, rewind, and play are accessible from the web page.

49. The method according to claim 15, wherein the line on which lie the points that represent the two different times on the at least one timeline is a straight line.

50. The method according to claim 15, wherein the at least one other visualization is other than a timeline.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

a controller having a data connector for inputting temporal data, and an item collection for providing timelines and overlays, and for providing linked visualizations of the temporal data in at least a first and a second timelines concurrently to other visualizations of the temporal data, such that a change in the display of temporal data of a portion thereof in the at least one timeline is synchronized with the display of temporal data in the at least one other visualizations,

wherein the first and second timelines are drawings,

wherein each of the first and second timelines is each separately plotted for at least two different times and data associated with those times,

wherein time on each of the first and second timelines is represented by points along one or more lines,

wherein the first and second timelines have different time scales, and wherein the time scale of one of the timelines is selected from the group consisting of year, month, day, hour, minute, and second;

a web browser for concurrently displaying the timeline and overlays, and the linked visualizations in a single display view,

wherein the at least one timeline is synchronized with other timelines on the common web page in the web browser so that the timelines pan at a common rate,

a best fit algorithm wherein the timeline by default uses a best fit algorithm so that data items, including date ranges, icons, and text labels of the data items, do not overlap each other, and

a visual scalability function wherein when a large amount of data needs to be shown at a given date, an “

over plotting”

indicator is shown rather than stacking all of the data on top of each other.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises visualizations of the timeline, overlays and the linked visualizations running in the web browser with no installation.

26. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a function of interactive panning and zooming without refreshing a current page of the web browser.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the apparatus further comprises an automatic generation of new tiles for a timeline background.

28. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises different time scales that are at least one of year, month, day, hour, minute, and second.

29. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a lens drawable on one timeline of the multiple timelines which represents an amount of time shown on the other timelines of the multiple timelines to thereby provide a summary and detail view of same data using two different timelines of the multiple timelines at different scales.

30. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises

an RSS support function for handling data that has an RSS format.

31. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a linked to other visualizations function wherein data on a timeline is automatically linked to other visualizations that display the same data, and wherein if underlying data is changed, respective data, associated with the underlying data, appears differently in each of the visualizations of the data.

32. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises data display modes wherein data items on the timeline are displayed as at least one of circles, tick marks, spheres, and any custom icon.

33. The apparatus according to claim 32, wherein the data display modes further display ranges if an associated event occurred from a start date to an end date.

34. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a selection function wherein data items of linked data in a respective visualization are selected by at least one of clicking on the data items or by doing a sweep rectangle select.

35. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the apparatus further comprises Wherein every other visualization that is using the linked data also automatically changes a visualization of data items of the linked data as well.

36. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a highlighting function wherein data items of linked data in a respective visualization are selected by at least one of clicking on the data items or by doing a sweep rectangle select.

37. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the timeline further has a very rich API that allows a setting of a variety of properties using an application programmer'"'"'s interface.

38. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a toolbar that is built into the toolbar and that allows use of timeline features, and wherein the toolbar has tooltips and buttons that are interactive, and wherein the tooltips and buttons can be toggled off interactively or programmatically.

39. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises an Y axis plotting function wherein the timeline is switchable from a best fit to Y axis plotting of the data items, such that data items are plottable by using time along the x axis and anther property along the Y axis.

40. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises an event aging function wherein the function is useable with real-time data, each element of real-time data referring to an event, and wherein, when a new event occurs, the new event can be set to age off the timeline after a given amount of time whereby, as the new event ages, the new event becomes more transparent giving an impression that the new event is fading away.

41. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises an event replay function wherein temporal data is replayable on the timeline in an order that the temporal data occurred.

42. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a toolbar button that effects panning of timeline data to a current time.

43. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises an optimized view on the timeline of selected data points.

44. The apparatus according to claim 43, wherein the optimized view comprises automatically setting at least one of scale and zoom level to show an optimal view of a selected subset of data points.

51. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the line on which lie the points that represent the two different times on the at least one timeline is a straight line.

52. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the at least one other visualization is other than a timeline.