Providing direct manipulation of an analytics data visualization within an analytics report

• US 9,037,964 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2012
• Issued: 05/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Appleyard, James P., Fitzpatrick, Gregory P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mills, Frank D
• Application Number:
  US13/349,101
• Publication Number:
  US 20130185624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,223 Days
• Field of Search: 715/234
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/168 Details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems, e.g. browsing and visualisation, 2d or 3d GUIs query results presentation G06F16/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A direct manipulation event associated with a chart of an analytics report can be detected. The event can be a user interface input and the chart can be an information graphic. The graphic can be a graphically rendered HTML compliant element and a data set. The report can conform to a JAVASCRIPT OBJECT NOTATION (JSON) format. The analytics report can be presented within a browser. An action can be run responsive to the detecting. The action can be an immediate rendering of the graphic based on the event. When the action executes a request for data not in the data set data from a different data set can be obtained. When the action executes a request for data in the data set, the data from the data set can be automatically retrieved. The analytics data can be immediately rendered as a chart within the canvas element of an HTML document.

Claims

1. A method for performing direct manipulation on an analytics report comprising:

detecting a direct manipulation (DM) event associated with an chart of an analytics report, wherein the DM event is a user interface (UI) input, wherein the chart is an information graphic, wherein the information graphic is at least one of a graphically rendered HTML compliant element and a data set, wherein the analytics report presented within a browser interface;

responsive to the detecting, executing an appropriate DM action, wherein the DM action is an immediate rendering of the information graphic based on the DM event;

when the DM action executes a request for analytics data not in the data set, obtaining the analytics data from a different data set from a different data repository;

when the DM action executes a request for analytics data in the data set, automatically retrieving the requested data from the data set; and

render the analytics data as an analytics chart within the canvas element of an HTML document; and

dynamically converting the analytics chart from an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format to a JavaScript Object notation (JSON) format before the analytics report is presented within the browser, wherein the converting occurs within a presentation layer of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model, wherein the DM action executes at an application level of the browser interface, wherein the conversion is subject to at least one conversion rule, wherein the at least one conversion rule can be dynamically altered during run-time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the report conforms to a JAVASCRIPT OBJECT NOTATION (JSON) format.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the HTML element is an HTML5 element.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the chart is at least one of a diagram, a graph, a table, a map, and a list.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the DM event is detected within the application level of the browser interface.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface input is at least one of a drag and drop input, a select input, a multi-select input, a hover input, and a disperse input.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the rendering is performed by a Document Object Model (DOM) script.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting a notification associated with the chart within the browser interface, responsive to the rendering.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the direct manipulation event triggers a drill down action associated with the chart.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the DM action combines at least a portion of the chart with at least a portion of a different chart.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the DM action is affected by a user preference setting.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the chart is a data visualization of at least one of the analytics data and a different analytics data.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the report is associated with a security measure, wherein the security measure is at least one of an authorization mechanism, a verification action, a mutability setting and a restriction on generation of the DM action.

14. A computer program product comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable, tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to detect a direct manipulation (DM) event associated with an chart of an analytics report, wherein the DM event is a user interface (UI) input, wherein the chart is an information graphic, wherein the information graphic is at least one of a graphically rendered HTML compliant element and a data set, wherein the analytics report presented within a browser interface;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, responsive to the detecting, execute an appropriate DM action, wherein the DM action is an immediate rendering of the information graphic based on the DM event;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, when the DM action executes a request for analytics data not in the data set, obtain the analytics data from a different data set from a different data repository;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, when the DM action executes a request for analytics data in the data set, automatically retrieve the requested data from the data set;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, render the analytics data as a chart within the canvas element of an HTML document; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, dynamically convert the analytics chart from an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format to a JavaScript Object notation (JSON) format before the analytics report is presented within the browser, wherein the converting occurs within a presentation layer of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model, wherein the DM action executes at an application level of the browser interface, wherein the conversion is subject to at least one conversion rule, wherein the at least one conversion rule can be dynamically altered during run-time.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the report conforms to a JAVASCRIPT OBJECT NOTATION (JSON) format, wherein the HTML element is an HTML5 element, wherein the rendering is performed by a Document Object Model (DOM) script.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the chart is at least one of a diagram, a graph, a table, a map, and a list, wherein the DM event is detected within the application level of the browser interface, wherein the user interface input is at least one of a drag and drop input, a select input, a multi-select input, a hover input, and a disperse input.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the chart is at least one of a diagram, a graph, a table, a map, and a list.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the DM event is at least one of a drag and drop input, a select input, a multi-select input, a hover input, and a disperse input.

19. A method for providing direct manipulation of an analytics data visualization within an analytics report comprising:

presenting an analytics report within a browser wherein the analytics report consists of at least one analytic information graphic entity;

detecting a direct manipulation event associated with the at least one analytic information graphic entity, wherein the information graphic entity is at least one of a graphically rendered HTML compliant element and a data set, wherein the analytics report is presented within a browser interface, wherein the direct manipulation action comprises a request for analytics data not in a data set;

responsive to the detecting, determining an appropriate direct manipulation action by analyzing a direct manipulation ruleset, wherein the direct manipulation action is an immediate rendering of the analytic information graphic based on the direct manipulation event;

identifying a different data set from a different data repository in response to the request;

querying the different data set resources to retrieve the requested analytics data; and

processing the analytics data to generate an enhanced report;

in generating the enhanced report, converting an analytics chart derived from the analytics data from an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format to a JavaScript Object notation (JSON) format before the enhanced report is generated within the browser, wherein the converting occurs within a presentation layer of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model, wherein the DM action executes at an application level of the browser interface, wherein the conversion is subject to at least one conversion rule, wherein the at least one conversion rule can be dynamically altered during run-time.